Red Alert: A New Day Dawns
by Tallman7
Summary: Shepard defeated Sovereign, but it cost him his Spectre status, and nearly his life. Will defeating the Reapers cost him even more? Can the Alliance build a force to defeat the greatest menace the galaxy has ever known? What will happen when Yuri and Cerberus meet? Come and find out in the sequel to Red Alert: The Dawn of Man!
1. Prologue Part 1: The Giant Awakens

_**Author notes: FUCK DISCLAIMERS!**_

* * *

Prologue Part 1: The Giant Awakens

Surprisingly, _not_ pain.

In fact, the sensation was closer to coziness than anything else. It felt… nice.

When Shepard opened his eyes, and the blurriness faded, he'd honestly expected to find himself in the Normandy's Medbay. Based on the view through the window in his room, and the fact there was a window to begin with, he was somewhere else. He turned his head, and saw something he'd been hoping for. Tali was slumped in a padded chair, her head resting against her chest, and she was breathing softly in her sleep.

Shepard debated about waking her, but decided against it. Instead, he sat up in his bed and tried to dredge up the memories of what had happened on the Citadel.

He remembered Saren, or more specifically, he remembered killing him. Shepard cringed slightly. The memories Saren had sent to him in the last moment of his life came to the forefront of his mind unbidden. But rather than push them away, he analyzed them, turning them over and inspecting them like some sort of unusual gemstone.

'_Know thy enemy.'_ he thought grimly.

What Shepard saw surprised him. As expected, there was anger and hate, both for Humanity in general, and for the Council for capitulating to them during the Contact War and after. But what he wasn't expecting was the _why_.

'_Tristana.'_ That was her name. That was… her blood._ They were friends. Squad mates. They'd gone through boot camp together; they'd even been assigned to the same Cabal. 'Sure, it's under my brother, but Aurum isn't such a bad guy.'_ That was Saren's voice. _'Spirits, he's a biotic, just like us. He _needs_ to be the best to advance through the Cabals. He's got the skills, and more than enough determination. You'll see.'_

Then, Shepard saw it. The moment. The suit. That domed, metallic, silver-red suit. The cackling laugh from the occupant, the cackling from his voice matching the crackling from his weapon. Cackling, _cackling_, _**cackling!**_ From that… _monster_!

'Lightning_?! Spirits cursed _lightning_?! How is that possible?' This-this… _thing_ was hurling around bolts of brilliant obliteration like toys. Walls, armor, shields, biotic barriers: nothing could stop them. When they first saw the lone soldier in its' odd armor, they'd laughed and taken bets on how many shots they would need to bring it down._

_They weren't laughing anymore. The other two squads were _gone_. Some were charred husks, their bodies burnt beyond recognition in an instant. The lucky ones were simply limp and still, their eyes unseeing. One poor bastard was even _burning_, his armor having been turned to molten slag around his body. His screams hadn't lasted long, but they'd been _horrendous_, like the wails of a dying world. And the damn thing _frying_ the Turian soldiers, frying his _friends_… it _laughed_! It heard the screams, tasted the fear, smelled the burning flesh and boiling blood, and it _laughed_! Every death, every_ murder_, brought new cries of pleasure and ecstasy to its voice. It was _enjoying_ this-this… slaughter! 'What kind of unholy fiend _is_ this?!'_

'_Saren?'_ _called Tristana weakly, taking cover behind a broken wall._ _'Spirits, I-I'm… I'm so sc-c-cared, Saren.'_ _She was panting, almost hyperventilating, and her entire body was trembling. 'I don't wanna d-die! Spirits, I j-just wanna go ho-'_

_Then it hit. Another bolt of destruction and death arced around the corner where Tristana was sheltered, and it slammed into her body. It passed through her barrier, and for a moment, she jerked. She jolted and convulsed, but suddenly stopped, and for a single instant, there was hope. Maybe she'd be different than the rest. 'Please. Spirits please: let her be different.'_

_She was. Before he could blink, Saren was coated, from head to toe, in what _used_ to be one of his closest friends. They'd never been romantic: even without the regulations against it, they weren't meant for each other, not like that. But she still had her charms. Her laugh when she managed to win another foot-race against her taller, male squad mates, despite her height disadvantage. Her anger whenever she needed to practice for her marksmanship exams. She never did like using a gun. She always preferred her biotics, even though most Turians distrusted the Cabals. Her curiosity with how her biotics worked. She was almost like a Salarian in that regard, always looking for more information, more knowledge. And now…_

_Saren felt his last meal rise in his throat, before it came spewing out. It covered his boots and lower legs, and soon after, another spasm ripped through his body and he heaved again. Through blurry eyes and cold, numb shock, Saren heard the _thing_ cackle again, and was distantly aware of one of his squad mates, Ignavia, fleeing for all she was worth, her friends forgotten in her haste to escape. Saren couldn't blame her. Though he couldn't see its' eyes, he was certain that the _thing_ was looking at him, deciding how best to kill him. Saren's legs wouldn't move; it was like he was riveted to the spot. Just as the thing was about to finish its' work, an armored blur came rushing out of the rubble, and slammed into it with biotically charged fury._

'_SAREN! RUN!' screamed Aurum. Aurum was his older brother, but more than that, he was his military superior, his commanding officer. As Aurum rammed his fist into the thing's armor once more, Saren found himself obeying the order instinctually, and he scrambled over the debris towards safety. But a scream of pain from his older brother brought him up short, and he wheeled around. The silver-red monster was on its' feet, and it closed on Aurum's limp from with malicious intent. It hauled the crippled Turian biotic to his knees, and the action elicited another scream of pain._

_Then, the thing did something Saren hadn't observed it doing before. It spoke, but this time, its' voice held no mirth. It was murderous, and icy, and even though Saren couldn't understand what it said, it made his blood run cold._

'_Pray to whatever god you believe in, you metal freak, because you're about to meet 'im.'_

_Then the screaming started. Saren realized that Aurum hadn't been screaming before. Those had been surprised yelps, or grunts, or groans. The noise Aurum was making now was a _scream_, and it made Saren's heart and soul _wail_ in sympathy. It got louder, and more frantic, and in that instant, Saren began moving again. He couldn't stay. He couldn't watch. He couldn't listen. He could only run._

'_I'm so sorry, brother.' he muttered repeatedly, his mind wracked by sorrow and despair and grief. 'Spirits forgive me, I'm so _sorry_.'_

As the memory ended, Shepard felt bile rise in his throat, and he struggled to choke it back down. _'Christ almighty. His entire squad, then his own damn brother. No wonder he hated Humans; a seventeen year old kid seeing something like that. No one deserves that.'_ Shepard swallowed bile again, then glance back over at Tali. She was still asleep.

Shepard tried to dredge up the memories of what happened _after_ Saren. When he did, the reality of what had happened came crashing down like a burning building.

'_There's no fucking _way_ that happened!' _he mused with a vigorous shake of his head. '_Using MC on a _Reaper_?! That's fucking impossible! …isn't it?'_ He considered the question for a moment, and then came to a conclusion. _'I couldn't beat it; I couldn't control it. It took everything I had, and I was like a child fighting a Krogan. I barely managed to _injure_ the fucking thing, and if things had gone on any longer, my mind would've imploded. Let's never do that again.'_

Then, a second question occurred to him. _'How the hell did I manage even that much? There were _millions_ of minds in that thing. A whole damn city's worth. I can't control that many at…'_

Yuri's voice seemed to ring in his mind. _'If your powers continue to grow as they have been, you may eventually be capable of seizing control of an entire city by yourself.'_

"A whole damn city's worth." he muttered. Tali stirred slightly in her sleep, but settled down after a moment. _'But how did I gain _that_ much power, _that_ quickly. I didn't train with Yuri between Virmire and Ilos. _Hell_, I hardly said a word to him after I used the bea…' _ "THE BEACON!" blurted Shepard. Tali awoke with a start, and half leapt out of her chair before tumbling to the ground with a groan.

"I see you've still got the grace and _flexibility_ of a lioness, Tali." quipped Shepard, reaching a hand down from his bed to help her up. "Keep it up, and you may qualify for the Olympics."

She swatted his hand away and rose with a grumble, but she only got half-way to her feet before reality hit her. When it did, she lunged at him and wrapped him in a fierce hug, before breaking into tears.

"You're awake." she sobbed, stroking his hair. "You're awake, you're awake, you're awake…" She chanted it like a mantra, rocking back and forth against him, still stroking his hair.

"Tali… I'm sorry for worrying you." he replied, returning the embrace awkwardly from where he sat. "I didn't look before I leapt."

"Bosh'tet." she replied, pulling back and kissing him. "I thought we talked about that."

"Well… you know how stubborn I can be." he replied, kissing her again. "Maybe I need a… reminder…" He trailed off, and winked at her.

She snorted lightly, and pulled back. "Awake for five minutes, and you're already horny. I'll tell you what, _Commander_: until you brush your teeth and take a shower, I won't be getting much closer than this."

Shepard opened his mouth to protest, but then remembered the bile. "Tali… what happened?"

Her face fell, and her tone became somber. "Liara and I went down to check on Saren's body." she replied. "He had some sort of cybernetic enhancements, and I think the Reaper took control of his corpse. We had to blow it to pieces to stop it. Afterwards, the Alliance fleet destroyed Sovereign, but… a piece of the debris hit the Tower." Her voice filled with guilt as she continued. "It almost crushed us. I tried to get you away from it, but you were unconscious, and I was injured, and-"

Shepard cut her off with a finger to her lips. "Tali, it wasn't your fault. I was unconscious… well, let's just say I did something really stupid, and it bit me in the ass. And did you say you were injured?"

"It was a flesh wound I got from Saren… what was left of him, anyways." she protested. "I healed up after four days. You've been out for two _weeks_. What _happened _to you?"

Shepard let out a sigh. "Poor bastard." he muttered. When he saw the look of confusion on Tali's face, he explained. "Tali… I want to share something with you. Just before Saren died… before I killed him… he showed me something. He gave me… memories. Lots of them. I'm still sorting through them, but… just watch, OK?"

She nodded. "Alright. Show me."

Shepard focused his mind, and transferred the memory of Saren over to Tali. It took less than an instant, but she gasped after it was finished. "I had no idea…" she murmured, clearly disturbed. "Seeing your bother die like that… I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not even him."

"Tali… Saren wasn't always evil. He was just as much a victim of the Reapers as anyone else. Despite everything he did… despite what he did to Kaidan… I can't bring myself to hate him."

She nodded after a moment. "I guess. If they were controlling him, then it wasn't entirely his fault."

"Now… to answer your second question. I… fought Sovereign. With my mind."

"But-"

"Let me finish." Shepard sighed heavily, and then lay back down on his bed. "Sovereign… the Reapers aren't just machines. Part of them is organic. They… _harvest_ organic beings and use them to make more Reapers."

Tali gasped. "Why?"

"I don't know." he replied with a shake of his head. "Maybe it's how they reproduce. Regardless, the minds of the people they… _absorb_ are still in there. They're trapped, and there's nothing they can do. They…" he trailed off, and began crying softly. "They begged to die. They didn't want to exist like that."

Tali hugged him again until he stopped crying. "So… you can _control_ Reapers?"

"No." he replied quietly. "I'm lucky I managed what I did. I was like a child wrestling a varren. It was a miracle I didn't get mauled, or _worse_. The only reason I managed _that_ much is because of the beacon on Virmire. I think it boosted my powers." Shepard let out a grim chuckle. "Yuri said I might be able to control a city one day. Guess he was right."

Tali was about to continue, but just then, the door to the room opened, and a short, Asiatic man in a lab coat walked in, his eyes fixed on a data pad in his hand.

"Miss Zorah, I know you're concerned for- Oh!" he exclaimed, looking up. "You're awake, Commander. That's rather… sudden."

"Hey doc." he replied. "Where am I?"

"Huerta Memorial Hospital, on the Citadel. You've been asleep for quite some time. How are you feeling?"

Shepard's stomach chose that particular moment to growl noisily. "Like I could eat a horse." he replied with a small grin.

The doctor laughed briefly. "I can imagine. Intravenous nutrients aren't the same as real food. I'll have a nurse bring something up for you shortly. First, though, I need to runs some tests."

"Sure thing, Doctor…"

"Hu." he answered with a small bow.

Shepard cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Uh… you. What's your name?"

"Hu." replied the doctor with a bemused grin.

"You." snapped Shepard. "Who are you?"

"Yes." he said with a chuckle and an amused shake of his head. Oddly, Tali was fighting back a smile as well. "I am Hu."

"I'm asking the questions here." replied Shepard with a growl. "Now for the last time, _who are you_?"

"Of course I am. Who are you?" he replied, before devolving into a fit of chuckles. Tali joined him. "Hehe…. that never gets old."

"Think Abbot and Costello, John." said Tali, still giggling while trying to calm the irate commander down. "His name is Hu, as in H-U. He and I had this same conversation a week ago."

Shepard blinked in surprise, and then groaned when he realized what had happened. "And you just let me walk into it?" asked Shepard, sounding offended. "That's mean."

"And funny." she countered, still grinning. "I've heard Humans say that laughter is the best medicine."

"Only you two jokers were laughing." grumped Shepard.

"I'm sure he'll get a kick out of this as well." she replied. "And I don't think my sanity could withstand having two of him around."

Shepard frowned in annoyance, but Hu cut them off. "Miss Zorah… those tests…?"

"Oh. Right. I'll just be going. Take care, John. I'll let everyone know you're awake."

* * *

"You can't be serious." said Valern with a frown. "He still has the Genophage cure. We can't just let him _walk away_."

"Ordinarily, I'd agree with you." replied Sparatus. "But he did save our lives, not to mention the lives of everyone on the Citadel; possibly more, if what we were told about the Reapers is true. I can't in good conscience send a C-Sec or STG team into his _hospital room_ to arrest him." He sounded scandalized at the end.

"He's also prominent in the public eye at the moment." added Tevos. "If we move against him now, they would be riots. Goddess, we could start a war."

"It won't get that far." said David Anderson, the newly appointed Human Citadel Councilor. "But I can guarantee that you'll have quite a few problems if you go after him, officially or otherwise. Most of the Alliance general public still doesn't understand why the Council canned him in the first place, and considering what happened two weeks ago, trying to explain it might not help. The High Command might not share the sentiment, but they didn't get to where they are today by ignoring the public."

"So you're saying he has your support, then?" asked Valern.

"Officially, yes." replied Anderson calmly. "Our hands are tied just as much as yours."

"Unofficially…?" asked Raan.

Anderson sighed and rubbed his temples. "Shepard's put us in a difficult position. If he behaved the same way to his superiors in the Alliance as he did to you, we'd court martial him in a heartbeat. However, he didn't, and considering his record is _spotless_ when acting under Alliance orders, there's not too much we can do… not directly. Even so, he's made us look bad in public by getting fired from the Spectres. At this point, we need him to help us find a way to detect indoctrination. Afterwards… we're thinking of sidelining him."

"Explain." said Valern. It was not quite an order.

"We've gotten reports about increased activity from pirates and slaving parties in the Terminus Systems near our borders. The brass wants to send Shepard and his crew to, ah, _investigate_." He said the word while making bunny ears with his fingers.

"I've seen that gesture before." said Raan. "What does it mean?"

Anderson quirked his eyebrow, then laughed. "It means the word or words in question are BS… or at the very least, half-truths or sarcasm. When I said _investigate_," he made the bunny ears again, "I meant 'get him out of the way.' They want him somewhere he won't be seen or heard for a while. To put it the way _he_ might, they want him on bitch duty."

"That… makes no sense." said Sparatus with a frown. "If the matter needs to be investigated, why would that constitute a punishment?"

"I suppose you might not understand." replied Anderson diplomatically. "In the Turian military, a posting or assignment like that would be accepted without a fuss, right?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"That's the difference between Humans and Turians." responded Anderson, adopting an almost lecturing tone. "To some members of our military, serving on a secluded, backwater post like that would be relaxing, possibly even preferable. To someone like Shepard, who's used to being on the front lines… it'd drive him nuts. I suppose you might say he'd find it dishonorable."

"Well… I suppose I could live with that." replied the Turian with a shrug. "If it gets him… what's the Human expression? 'Out of our hair?' If it gets him out of our hair for a while, I'll take it. Any other objections?" Valern frowned, but said nothing. "On to new business, then. You said you wanted to discuss the Reapers, Anderson?"

"Yes." He pulled out a data pad from his uniform and began scrolling through it. "From what we know, the Reapers are almost certainly still coming. Stopping them from using the Citadel Relay won't have halted them completely, and the reason it took so long for me to arrive here after Hannah Shepard's resignation is that I was in a series of high level strategy meetings with the High Command and the Prime Minister. In fact, as soon as we're done here, I need to return to Arcturus Station, ASAP. In short, the Alliance has decided to make the information we have on the Reapers public. All of it."

"_What_?" asked Tevos loudly. "You can't be serious, Anderson! You could cause a panic! There would be riots, rebellions; Goddess, this could even start _wars_!"

"Better people panic and fight now than when the Reapers _do_ arrive." countered Anderson. "And Humans have long suspected that whatever destroyed the Protheans was still out there somewhere. For many, this will just be confirmation of that suspicion."

"And what of the rest of us?" asked Valern coldly. "How are we to respond to this… _disclosure_?"

"My advice is that you do the same, but then again, it's not my problem. " replied the Human. "However, if it makes you feel any better, you're getting something out of it."

"And what would that be?" asked Sparatus. Strangely, he didn't sound angry, just interested.

"Despite what our people might think – despite what _Commander Shepard_ might think – the High Command knows we can't stop the Reapers on our own." answered Anderson, sending a data file from his pad to three OSDs. "The force that destroyed Sovereign might not have been the most powerful or coordinated in the Alliance, but we lost seventeen vessels to just _one_ Reaper. From our best estimates, if there are more than twenty thousand of them, and we think there are… we'll lose. Badly. Quite frankly, the situation has our top people scared stiff."

"So what do you intend to do?" asked Tevos warily. Anything that made the Alliance afraid didn't bear thinking about.

Anderson sighed again. "As soon as the information about the Reapers goes public, we're going to hold a vote. Normally, each planet in the Alliance has representatives in Parliament that handle things like this, but desperate times call for desperate measures. We intend to have a species-wide vote on whether to enforce martial law on the entire Alliance, and militarize our entire economy."

The entire Council gaped in shock. Sparatus recovered first. "The _entire Alliance_?! Do you intend to mobilize your whole _species_?!"

"Yes." he replied bluntly. Somehow, the Council got even more shocked. "We need to prepare, Councilors. If this measure passes, we intend to devote every ship, every computer, every resource, every credit, every man, woman and child… to preparing for the Reapers, from now until they arrive, be it tomorrow or next century. Even as we speak, our best minds are working overtime to figure out a way to stop them, and our ship and weapons plants are spinning up to maximum capacity and beyond. We have a unique chance, one which no other species before us had: we have a chance to prepare for the arrival of the Reapers, and we don't intend to waste it."

"You. Can't. Be. _Serious_!" screeched Tevos in stunned disbelief. "If the Alliance builds their military that far that fast, you'd be able to overrun the entire _galaxy_! Are you _trying_ to start a war?!"

"Anderson... David." began Sparatus, eerily calm. "I know you believe the Reapers are coming. Maybe they are. Even so, you can't possibly _agree_ with such an extreme measure. This is the wrong choice, not just for your species, but for _all_ species."

"No." he replied calmly, shaking his head. "In fact, we intend to go even further." He set the three OSDs on the table in front of him. "On these devices are the plans, blueprints, and technical specifications for eighty percent of our currently classified military technology: PRISM and Tesla weapons, from firearms to satellites to dreadnaughts; ablative ship armor, Mirage camouflage fields, psychic radar, nuclear ordinance, gap generators, cryogenic arms, AI code, heavy land and sea armor, robotic combat drones; the list goes on. The only things _not_ on them are specifications for chrono technology and Iron Curtains. We're willing to give you some of the most advanced technology we've ever developed, the _technology_ that made us the dominant military species in the _galaxy_ the moment we stepped on stage… _if_… you give us something in return."

"And… what would that be?" asked Tevos slowly.

"Shepard." answered Valern bluntly. "You want him back in the Spectres."

Anderson let out a noncommittal grunt. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I need to have a chat with him sometime, assuming Hannah hasn't already. Regardless, we're more interested in a different matter. The Rachni."

The rest of the Council stiffened at the word. "What of them?" demanded Sparatus. His anger was returning, but he held it in check.

"This technology we're offering you: it comes with a price. We've managed to communicate with the Rachni Queen Shepard recovered from Noveria. He trusts her, and for now, that's good enough for the High Command, particularly for Hackett. Since his promotion to Supreme Commander of the Alliance Armed Forces, he's begun allocating resources to helping them rebuild their society. It's slow going, but it _is_ going. Basically… we want them as a client race."

For the third time in the day, the Council gaped in shock. "I'd call you crazy, but I think that's a given, at this point." murmured Sparatus. "Still, considering what you're offering… is there anything _else_ you wanted?"

"Yes. We want you to… ah… _forget_ that Shepard has the Genophage cure. There's not a whole lot you can do about it anyway, and if you push him, he may very well hand it over to Urdnot Wrex just to spite you. Additionally, we'd like you to stop sending STG teams into our space, looking for the Rachni." Valern opened his mouth to protest, but Anderson cut him off. "Don't bother denying it, Valern. We captured more than one team, and they talked. Eventually." Valern's mouth narrowed, but Raan forestalled the confrontation.

"I'm sure the Alliance had no _official_ hand in their treatment." she said, making bunny ears with her fingers. The awkwardness of seeing a Quarian try to replicate the Human gesture made Anderson chuckle slightly. "Just as I'm sure the Salarian Union had no _official_ part in them being in Alliance territory in the first place. After all, such actions could be construed as a prelude to war." After she finished, Valern said nothing, but his eyes were cold.

"Do we have a deal?" asked Anderson.

The other three Councilors exchanged glances. "I agree." said Tevos with a nod.

"As do I." replied Sparatus immediately after.

Valern took longer to respond. "Very well."

Anderson nodded, and then slid an OSD over to each Councilor. "The Alliance is _trusting_ you with this technology, Councilors. We're trusting you to use it to prepare for the Reapers, and _not_ to try and stab us in the back. We're _trusting_ you… because we don't _have_ a _choice_."

He stood and walked to the door. "We just put our heads on the chopping block, and handed you the axe. Don't screw us. If you do, we _all_ die."

* * *

_**Author notes: It begins! I've a few things to announce before I get any further:**_

_**After having thought it over some more, I've changed my mind (again. Last time, I promise). I'm officially announcing the rewrite of "Red Alert: The Dawn of Man." I'll release the Prologue quite soon, since there isn't too much in it I need to change. Once I get to the main storyline, things will get interesting. If you read the original, then you might like what I have in store for you. Either way, I feel this is something that needs to happen. It wasn't a matter of if: it was a matter of when.**_

_**Second announcement: My faithful "sidekick," aDarkOne, is now officially my beta reader. I'm looking for second (if two heads are better than one, then three are better than two), and I'd prefer if hornet07 took the job. He gets first dibs if he's interested, but if not, then the position is open (hornet07, if/when you read this, send me a PM with a yea or nay). However, when I say "beta reader," I don't mean glorified spell checker. I want someone who can look at my story and (figuratively) rip it to pieces and point out the flaws. Not quite a co-author, but close. I need an analytical mind; one that isn't afraid to call me on my bullshit. If you think you can do it, and hornet07 doesn't want the job, let me know, either by review or PM. Having previous work may help, more if I like it personally, but it's not a guarantee (unless you're Full-Paragon. In that case, SQUEE! XD)**_

_**Last thing: As you may imagine, writing/reduxing two stories side by side, and having beta readers to boot, is gonna slow things down. I knew my hunt for a job would do so as well, and this only compounds the problem. The rewrite should go faster (since most of the work is already done), but I don't know how quickly things are gonna progress in the meantime. We'll see. With that said, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of "Red Alert: A New Day Dawns." Feedback is always appreciated, and helps me develop as an author. See ya!**_


	2. Prologue Part 2: Of Orpheus and Eurydice

_**Author notes: Well, the news is officially in. My first choice for a second beta reader, hornet07, turned down the offer. I completely understand why. What I'm asking for is a fair bit. I'm not actually asking for someone to write the story with me, but I **_**am**_** looking for someone who can keep me from getting too "Gary Sue" with Shepard, and point out plot-holes and idiocy. That said, I've still got a spot open for another beta. If you think you're up to it, let me know.**_

_**Second thing: I wanted to let everyone know that certain events in this story may confuse you, even if you've read The Dawn of Man. That's because the story is based on my planned **_**rewrite**_** of TDoM, and the changes I'm putting in it. If you're reading this more than a few months from now (5/12/2014), and you read the rewrite, then you won't notice. If not, you may need to take a look at the rewrite to figure some things out. I'm trying to make sure that I release any chapters with changes **_**before**_** I release material based on those changes. I know it's confusing, but I ask that you bear with me on this. It'll all make sense in the end.**_

* * *

Prologue Part 2: Of Orpheus and Eurydice

Shepard found himself choking down yet another tasteless ration pack in the nearly empty mess on the Normandy. After helping the Alliance devise a way to modulate an omnitool to detect indoctrination, he'd been shipped out to the Terminus Systems. After nearly a week chasing his tail and looking for ghosts, the isolation was driving him up a wall. He tried to deny it, at first, but after four days he was finally able to admit it to himself.

"Sons-a-bitches sidelined me." he muttered to the empty table.

Most of his old crew had dispersed, scattered to the nine winds of the galaxy. _Ambassador_ Pluribus was on Arcturus station, hammering out plans and strategies for the fight against the Reapers. Ashley had been given a deserved commission of Lieutenant Commander, and promoted off the ship, though Shepard suspected it was simply a way for the Alliance to "break up the band." Garrus was in Spectre training on the Citadel, no doubt a ploy by that assh-… _Sparatus_ to try and get the other Turian on his side, and Wrex was on Tuchanka, already on his way to rebuilding the Krogan into a people again. The only members of his original ten-man team were Tali, as always, Yuri, since the Alliance couldn't seem to decided _what_ to do with him, and Liara, who claimed she didn't have anywhere else to go.

"This sucks."

Shepard finished off the ration pack, then stood and made his way to the CIC, intending to bother Joker for a while. Boredom was starting to set in among the crew, and he was no exception. Granted, he and Tali had found _more_ than a few ways to pass the time, and each was more… _interesting_ than the last, but even _sex_ got old after a week with nothing else to do. When he arrived in the cockpit, he found the pilot wasn't alone. He was talking to Tali, who'd situated herself in the copilot's chair to his left.

"-re you going to take a trip to Rannoch?" asked Joker. "I hear the Geth have allocated nearly two-thirds of planet for, uh, _resettlement_." He made bunny ears as he spoke. "The other third's probably where they hide the bodies."

"It's strange." she replied, leaning back in her chair. "For hundreds of years, the Quarian people _dreamed_ of retaking Rannoch. It was all we thought about during the Exile. Now that it was just _given_ to us, it feels… _less_, somehow. Like having a meal handed to you never tastes as good as making it yourself." She sighed slightly. "Besides, as long as John is out here _hunting for pirates_," she said with a giggle, "I'm not going anywhere."

"You sure about that?" he asked suddenly. Both of them jumped in their chairs, and Joker cursed.

"Sneaky-assed Geists." he muttered. "They teach you to be all ninja-y in the Rangers?"

"Yes actually." replied Tali with a grin. "Stealth and subtlety are some of the most important skills for a Geist to have. In that regard, John sucks."

"No, you… _suck_." he replied, massaging her shoulders and bending over her. "I… _blow_." He followed up by blowing a stream of cool air gently across her neck and down her spine, and she shuddered in response.

"Geez, get a room you two." quipped Joker, rolling his eyes. "Better yet, get two, since you've probably destroyed the one by now."

"You're just jealous your girlfriend isn't as… _flexible_ as mine." he said with a smirk. "After all, she's made of metal."

"Just the way I like her." replied the pilot, stroking the arm of his chair. "But I wish they'd given her leather seats when they built her. So _smooth_, and _luxurious_, and- huh?"

Shepard blinked in surprise. "What's up?"

"We just picked up a contact on the psy-radar." Joker replied. "It's coming in at FTL speeds, and the sensors can't make out an IFF signature."

"Pirates?" asked Tali, sitting up in her chair.

"Don't think so." said the pilot warily. "It's too big for that: bigger than most dreadnaughts, actually."

That sent alarm bells ringing in Shepard's mind. Tali's as well, considering she immediately bounded to her feet. "How far out are they?" she asked anxiously.

"About fifteen seconds. Still, the stealth systems are engaged. They could be right on top of us, and we'd be invisible. Whatever it is, it's coming out of FTL… now."

"Bring it up on sensors." ordered Shepard. Joker did, and an image of the ship popped up on the forward display. Although, calling it a _ship_ was being rather generous. It looked more like someone had hollowed out an asteroid and slapped engines on the back.

"What the hell…?" murmured Shepard.

Joker gasped slightly. "Commander, they're gaining speed, and are on an intercept course."

"Change our heading Joker." said Shepard. "Fifty degrees to port. And give her some gas."

Joker did, but when the psy-radar overlay showed the ship match their new course, he swore. "Shit. I don't know how, but they can see us. I'm gonna floor it." he said, typing rapidly on his haptic controls.

"Try hailing them." suggested Tali. "Maybe they just want to talk."

Shepard shook his head. "Considering they're matching us move for move, I someh-" He cut off and was thrown into a bulkhead as the Normandy reeled to the side. It felt like a massive hammer had slammed into the frigate.

"FUCK!" roared Joker, the speed of his typing increasing to frantic levels. "Whatever they hit us with blew off our port engine and took out the chronosphere! Catch me if you can, you bastards!" he snarled, putting the Normandy into a series of evasive maneuvers.

"To hell with dodging, start _shooting_!" yelled Shepard, righting himself.

"With _what_?!" yelled the pilot. "_My boneless di-_" Joker cut off as a second blow sent the ship careening downwards, hard enough to slam Shepard into the ceiling, head first.

"_STOP_!_ HURTING_!_ MY_!_**BABY!**_" bellowed the enraged pilot, smashing commands into his controls. A moment later, the Normandy slammed into full reverse, and the hostile ship careened past them, giving the crew of the Alliance vessel a chance to catch their breaths.

"Damage report." said Shepard weakly, trying to blink the stars from his vision. His mind felt jumbled, like his thoughts were in a blender.

'_Concussion.'_ he thought distantly. _'Need… see… Karin.'_

"Weapons, barriers, and main communications are offline." replied the fuming pilot, still typing rapidly. "Life support's failing, and secondary fires just took out what was left of our engines. Commander, if those fires aren't put out in five minutes, we'll run out of air."

"Damnit." said Shepard, shaking his head again. "No choice. Time to leave."

"But-"

"No 'buts,' Joker. Send the word: all hands, abandon ship!"

Joker hesitated for a moment, and then complied. Klaxons blared overhead, and the lights that were left started flashing red. Tali helped Joker rise quickly, and slung his arm over her shoulder as they made for a forward escape pod. The CIC was completely open to vacuum, and Shepard's heart sank as he saw the bodies of several crew members, Pressley included, amongst the wreckage.

"Christ. I hope everyone else made it OK." said Shepard, guiding Tali and Joker into the pod. Then he cracked a crooked grin. His mind was still fuzzy. "Well, maybe not Yur-"

He never finished. In the distance, the enemy vessel finished rounding on them, and let loose one final salvo from their primary weapon, which slammed into the nose of the already fatally crippled Normandy. Shepard was cut off once more as the ship buckled, and he suddenly found himself being dragged backwards towards the empty void of space behind him. Tali's hand lashed out and caught his, which kept him from leaving the ship, but she wasn't strong enough to pull him in against the tide of rushing air. In that instant, Shepard's mind cleared completely.

'_If she hangs on any longer, we'll run out of air, and without armor, all three of us will die.'_

Shepard had time for one, final, forlorn look into her eyes as he brushed against her mind.

'_I'm sorry, Tali'_

'_NO!'_

'_I love you.'_

'**NO!**_'_

Shepard released his hold on her hand, and had just enough time to slap the controls on the pod and seal the door before blackness overtook him.

* * *

Tali slammed her fist against the door of the escape pod, staring into the void beyond with tear filled eyes.

"Keelah… _no_." she whispered, collapsing to her knees. "No!" she wailed, sobbing raggedly. She barely felt Joker's fragile arms wrap around her as she cried. "He… he _ can't_! He _isn't_! _He wouldn't_!"

Joker said nothing, even when she slammed her fist into his leg hard enough to fracture the bone. There were no words, and he couldn't speak, even if there were. He couldn't talk, and he couldn't think. So he did the only thing he _could_. He prayed.

* * *

The sealed room on Arcturus Station was fairly nondescript. It was ten by eight by three meters, with a screen at one end and a crescent-shaped table at the other. The only thing remarkable about it was the nine people who occupied it. In the center of the table, side by side, were Steven Hackett and James Ryan, the Supreme Commander of the Alliance Armed Forces and the Prime Minister of the Alliance, respectively. Seated next to them were Shala'Raan and David Anderson, the Citadel Councilors for their respective species. Next, one seat away from the ends of the table, came Pluribus of the Geth Consensus and Rael'Zorah. Rael was representing the Flotilla military in the meeting, while Pluribus represented the Geth in their entirety. The last two people at the table were Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh and Doctor Hikaru Takei, who represented the scientific communities of the two races. The final individual in the room was standing in front of the other eight, and was in charge of organizing the campaign against the Reapers. Hannah Shepard looked like she'd seen better days, evidenced by the dark bags under her eyes and the messiness of her greying hair.

"Six Operations." she began. "Six plans, devised by the best and brightest strategic, tactical, and scientific minds of three species. These six plans are what will determine if our species survive into the future. Each of you had a hand in one or more these plans, and now, we'll go over them."

Hannah activated the screen behind her, and a set of blueprints appeared behind her. "First, the plan proposed by Admiral Xen, now codenamed Operation Hammer. You have the blueprints and specifications in front of you, so I won't bother going into the specifics. However, I will say that the technology used is an elegant application of magnetohydrodynamic principles."

The admiral accepted the compliment with a small nod. "Thank you. I got the idea from the wreckage of Sovereign, much like the Turians. I understand they're calling their version a Thanix Cannon. I noticed that the Reaper's main weapons used technology not too dissimilar from some of your early Tesla designs, and making modifications and improvements was fairly simple after that. The trick will be concealing them until they're needed."

"I understand we have you to thank for that, David?" asked Hannah, looking at him.

He grinned slightly and nodded. "Comes from the Geist training, I suppose. Ambush and concealment tactics were always a favorite of mine." He let out a short burst of laughter. "When I first heard about what happened to the Turians at Rapture and Shanxi, I nearly broke a rib laughing. That was a damn fine op, Steven."

The Commander grunted, but grinned slightly as well. "It was, wasn't it?" Then his mirth was gone, replaced by his signature seriousness. He looked at Hannah. "Next?"

"Why don't we cover your plan, Steven?" she said, flipping to the next slide. On it was a picture of what looked like a hurricane made of lightning. "Operation Sickle. I'll admit, the deliberate creation of a chronostorm wasn't something I'd ever have conceived of. To create one of the size you're proposing will be tough, to say the least."

"Just a moment." interjected Raan. "What's a chronostorm?"

"Something that hasn't been seen in over two centuries." replied Takei solemnly. "It was a side-effect of early chronosphere technology. Simply put, a chronostorm is a rift in the fabric of the space-time continuum. The best way I have of describing it is as a temporal hurricane."

Raan's eyes widened in surprise. "And you want to create one _deliberately_? How?"

"Basically, we'd need to strip the safeties out of a chronosphere and set it to overload." replied the Human scientist. "And as large as this one needs to be, the corresponding 'sphere needs to be equally massive. We're talking the size of a small mountain, here." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Still, the existence of the chronostorm phenomena is a well-kept secret. During the era of our history where they occurred, chrono tech was still highly classified, and once the technology was refined and the storms eliminated as a side-effect, they were largely forgotten. I doubt anyone will see it coming."

"Especially since Anderson's idea can be used to hide _it_ as well, assuming it's powered down." added Xen. "It's quite ingenious."

Anderson only smiled. The next to speak was Pluribus. "The technique proposed by Anderson Councilor has many applications. The plan formulated by the Geth Consensus relies on it."

"Indeed it does." said Hannah, flipping to the next slide. "We're calling it Operation Stars. Honestly, I think it's a bit of poetic justice, doing something like this. When Sovereign hit the Citadel, it intended to take the Relays from us and cripple our ability to travel through the galaxy. I'd say that turnabout is fair play."

"I agree." replied the synthetic. "Constructing the infrastructure needed to make the plan succeed will be difficult, but it has the advantage of protecting Geth and Creator territory behind the Perseus Veil, as well as Human territory in Alliance space."

"Speaking of which." said Hannah, flipping to the next slide. "Operation Stripes, proposed by Shala'Raan and Rael'Zorah. Now I'll admit, most of the ideas put forth here are a bit far-fetched, but this one takes the cake." she finished with a chuckle.

Rael rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I'll admit, I borrowed the concept from some old vids of your World Wars. Still, I think the idea has merit."

"The rest of us agree." replied Hannah with a smile. "Our WCDs were originally designed as weapons, and it's not like our monuments haven't had _stranger_ things done to them over the years. Still, the more… _conventional_ pieces of the plan proposed by Raan are equally viable, if a bit less humorous."

"I still can't believe what happened in Paris could be real." said Raan with a bit of trepidation in her voice. "The vids made it seem like something out of a nightmare."

"Oh, it'll be a nightmare, alright." said Hackett gruffly. "A nightmare for the _Reapers_."

Hannah nodded. "Next: Operation Sword, proposed by Doctor Takei. I don't really know how to describe this one. Creating _one_ of these monsters would be tough enough, but _thirteen_? And on _four_ planets? It's nothing if not ambitious, I'll give you that."

"We won't defeat the Reapers by being modest." replied the scientist. "And if the design works, we can always build more. Concealing them afterwards is the difficult part. I've taken a look at the Councilor's idea, and it simply won't work for Sword. They're too large and too energetic to hide in that fashion, which is why we've chosen to construct them underground."

"Just excavating that much material is a task in and of itself." said Hannah. "But it's no more ambitious than the other things proposed here. We'll make it happen." She flipped to the final slide, and faced Ryan. "Lastly, the plan proposed by you, Mr. Prime Minister: Operation Shield. It's a bit… fatalistic, don't you think? The ecological repercussions _alone_ boggle the mind."

The man nodded once, and spoke for the first time in the meeting. "Admittedly, it won't help the colonies, but Earth is our _home world_. We have a duty to defend it, no matter the cost."

"Ordinarily I'd agree with you, sir." replied Hannah, suddenly uncharacteristically nervous. "However… I believe that we must acknowledge the possibility that Earth and the Sol System may fall to the Reapers. If we fail to plan for such an eventuality, we plan to fail."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with her, sir." said Hackett, turning to face Ryan. "It's poor strategy to discount a possibility because we find it distasteful."

"With that in mind…" Hannah trailed off, and then opened a file on her omnitool, before transferring it to the screen. An image of Gregor Zelinsky appeared, one where he was in his prime. "What does everyone know about Doctor Gregor Zelinsky?"

"As much as anyone, I suppose." replied Takei. "He was a genius, second only to Einstein himself. Invented the QEC and made multiple advances in chrono technology, just to name a few. He was killed while experimenting with temporal technology at MIT in 2042."

"No." replied Hannah with a shake of her head. Ryan cut her off by slamming his fist into the table.

"Shepard! What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily.

"Sir, we're facing the greatest threat in the history of mankind." she replied firmly. "A threat so great, we paroled _Yuri himself_ to fight it. As Steven said, we can't afford to discount _any_ possibility, no matter how unpleasant. They _need_ to know."

The other seven occupants in the room turned confused and worried gazes to the Prime Minister, who studied Hannah for well over a minute, his eyes totally unblinking. Finally, he spoke. "Very well." Ryan faced Pluribus. "This applies to everyone, but perhaps to you most of all, Ambassador Pluribus. I need your _personal_ _guarantee_ that what's about to be said in this room _won't_ pass to anyone else, _including_ the rest of the Consensus. This _must_ remain secret. If you can't do that, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Pluribus hesitated. "Geth keeping secrets of that nature from each other is what led to the formation of the heretics, and the presence of spies within the true Geth. However… I can give you such a guarantee, Ryan Prime Minister. Allow me a moment to sever my connection with the Consensus."

Ryan said nothing as he waited. When Pluribus nodded a few moments later, he turned to Hannah. "Proceed."

"Doctor Gregor Zelinsky _was_ killed in a lab accident at MIT, as the history books say." began Hannah. "However, he wasn't experimenting with temporal technology. That was a cover story, used by the Nations and Union governments as a way to ban further research into the field."

The Humans in the room looked like they'd been hit by lightning, and the Quarians weren't much better. The only exceptions were Pluribus, who was stoic as ever, as well as Ryan and Hannah, who already knew the truth. "Then… _what_?" asked Takei, in very nearly a squeak.

Hannah sighed, but turned to Raan. "Shala, when Humans first stepped onto the galactic stage, what was the general feeling at the time from the other races?"

"Fear." she replied immediately. "Humans were, and still _are_, the only species that make casual use of nuclear arms during war. Even the Krogan hesitated to go that far, given what happened to Tuchanka before they were uplifted. Your attitude had them scared stiff."

"Exactly." replied Hannah with a nod. "Personally, I have no fear of nuclear arms, and I doubt anyone here does either. To me, a weapon is a weapon. They only difference between a nuke and a stick of dynamite is scale and fallout." She hesitated again, and began fidgeting. Her attitude set the rest of the group on edge, including Pluribus, though the only sign was an increase in the speed his head-flaps moved. "But what Zelinsky found… it scares the shit out of me." she said weakly, her face going pale. "It makes me feel like a little girl looking at some kind of unholy demon. In the entire Alliance, the only people ordinarily cleared to know about it are the Prime Minister and the Citadel Councilor. When I was told the truth… I damn near fainted."

"Why…" Hackett paused, and then licked his lips. "Why weren't Anderson and I told about this?"

"We intended to tell you and David sooner than this, Steven." answered Hannah. "But with everything going on, there hasn't been a chance. This technology… it was concealed for a hundred a forty _years_ because it's _too dangerous_ to be used. Until now, that is." She flipped one final slide, and the entire room went dead silent. For nearly a full five minutes, the group of eight stared in mute horror at the information on the screen, unable to fully process or comprehend what they were seeing. Eventually, Hannah spoke again.

"This plan… which for obvious reasons I'm terming Operation Unthinkable, is the single most desperate, most insane, most horrendous contingency I can imagine. It makes use of the technology Zelinsky discovered in 2042, the technology that claimed his life…"

"The Vacuum Imploder."

Before Hannah could elaborate further, the warning light above the door to the room flashed from green to red, and an alarm chimed, indicating someone wanted to enter the sealed room. Given that the guards outside has specific instructions not to allow anyone in, except under the most extreme of circumstances, it couldn't be anything good. Hannah cursed softly, and then deleted the information from the screen overhead. After a few long moments of waiting, the doors opened, and Hannah's secretary, Carolyn, all but ran into the room with a data pad in her hands.

"I'm sorry to interrupt ma'am, Mr. Prime Minister, but… this just came in on the QEC from Liara T'Soni." She handed the pad to Hannah, and her eyes lowered to the floor. "You… you need to see this, Hannah."

Worried at her secretary using her first name, something she rarely did, Hannah took the data pad, and read the brief message quickly. When she finished, the pad slipped from her suddenly numb fingers, and she fell to her knees.

"What… what is it?" asked Ryan.

Carolyn answered slowly, and sadness filled her voice. "The ASV Normandy… was attacked and destroyed by an unknown hostile vessel less than an hour ago. Commander Shepard… didn't make it."

When Carolyn finished speaking, Hannah started sobbing. There were no intelligible words behind her grief, and she sounded as if her heart had just been ripped from her body. In all honesty, it may as well have been.

"This meeting is adjourned." said Ryan quickly. "David, can you…?"

Anderson nodded, then slipped out of his chair and made his way over to Hannah. He tried to lift her to her feet, then finally gave up and began carrying the wailing woman, bridal style, out of the room. She clung to him like a lost child, and it tore at his heart to see her like this.

"I'm sorry, Hannah." he murmured to the grieving mother. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

"We can rebuild him. We have the technology. With the Lazarus Project, we have the ability to do what only god himself was once capable of. We can bring him back, exactly as he was before."

"Is it worth it, though?" asked the woman, her voice inflecting with a slight Australian accent. "Is Shepard the right choice?"

The seated man took a long drag on his cigarette before replying. "Shepard is still our best hope against the Reapers. We need him, exactly the same as he was. I'm putting you in charge of this, Agent Lawson. Unlimited funding, unlimited resources, and unlimited personnel: do whatever it takes, but get it done."

She nodded. "Then will you consider my proposal for a control chip? Without it, there's no guarantee he won't turn on us. With his powers, he could very well bring all of _Cerberus_ down on our heads."

"With his _powers_…" interrupted the third, and oldest, man in the room. His voice was breathy, and carried a slight hint of amusement as he continued. "…he could overcome _anything_ you do to manipulate him. Something so… _overt_ would only anger him further. He was willing to work with _me_ to defeat Saren, despite our differences. He won't have a problem working with your… _organization_."

"I find myself in agreement with our newest… _ally_." said the seated man. He turned to the psychic. "You can be extremely valuable to Cerberus. I'm glad we managed to retrieve you before the Alliance could." He smashed the butt of his smoldering cigarette into the ashtray beside him. "However… you work for _me_ now. Forget that, and your death will go from being faked to being real before you can blink."

"Believe me, I understand completely… Mr. Harper." he said with a smirk. "You may want to be more careful with who you trust with that information. Some of your operatives could use lessons on defending themselves from my abilities."

"You will refer to me as The Illusive Man, _Yuri_." replied TIM in a voice as cold as ice. "If I ever hear you speak that name again, I'll kill you personally."

"Of course." replied Yuri with a small bow and smaller smile. "It would hardly do for the two of us to come into conflict. After all, needing to put down a caged tiger is regrettable, under _any_ circumstances. Wouldn't you agree?"

TIM didn't answer, and Yuri laughed, ever so slightly. It was a noise to make angels weep.


	3. Prologue Part 3: Fall from Grace

Prologue Part 3: Fall from Grace

"_Good evening, this is __Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani__. Anonymous sources within the Alliance High Command have recently provided Westerlund News with details of the secret parole of the criminal known only as Yuri. Responsible for over one hundred million deaths, the outbreak of the Third World War, and a plot to forcibly seize control of the minds of every Human in existence, Yuri's name has since become synonymous with evil among Humans. His capture and subsequent placement in cryoprison near the end of the War was met with calls for his execution by Allied and Union citizens, despite the elimination of the death penalty in Allied nations years before. Eventually, these calls were almost forgotten, along with knowledge of Yuri himself, outside of mentions in history books and action vids. However, it has recently come to light that Alliance Prime Minister James Ryan and former Alliance Citadel Councilor Hannah Shepard conspired to release Yuri and his evil into the world once more. While Alliance officials are quick to mention that Yuri was paroled into the custody of the recently fallen Commander Johnathan Shepard, and was subsequently killed along with the Commander in a recent attack by pirates in the Terminus Systems, riots have begun to spring up on nearly every planet and moon in Alliance space, and there have been numerous calls for Prime Minister Ryan's impeachment and resignation. Though not as vocal, similar calls have arisen calling for the arrest and imprisonment of Hannah Shepard, who refuses to comment on the matter. Only time will tell if claims of Yuri's death are in fact true, or if the psychic madman will again rise to threaten the galaxy once more."_

Hannah tried to tune out the news report playing in the background, but it was difficult. When word of Yuri's involvement in the hunt for Saren had come to light, everything remaining in her world after John's death had come crashing down around her ears. Now, she found herself holed up in the small bar near the Alliance Embassy on the Presidium, nursing a martini, intent on drinking herself into the ground. It'd taken the presence of over a hundred C-Sec guards, Alliance Marines, and a Council Spectre to keep rioters and protesters from bashing down the doors to the Embassy and ripping her to pieces. Hannah found the presence of a Spectre surprising, at first, but when Nihlus Kryik had reintroduced himself to her, things had finally clicked.

"_Shepard… Johnathan saved my life more times than I can count. I owe him _this_ much, at least."_

Thinking of her son brought a fresh wave of pain to Hannah's gut, which she promptly tried to drown with the rest of her martini. She waved to the Spectre bartender for another, which he quickly prepared and set on her small table wordlessly. The bar was completely empty, save for a few guards and Hannah herself. She turned towards the door when a sudden wave of noise assaulted her ears from the Presidium outside. The rioters were still out there, oh yes they were. Hannah felt her lips curl into a sneer when Sparatus walked through the door.

"Come to gloat, Sparatus?" she asked with a bit of a slur to her words.

He didn't reply, but merely sat down across from her at the small table. Nihlus mixed the other Turian a drink without being asked and set it down in front of Sparatus, who accepted it with a murmur of thanks.

"Well?!" demanded Hannah, slamming back the martini in one gulp. "Out with it! You must _love_ seeing me like this. The arrogant, rude, prideful human bitch finally gets put in her place." She laughed ruefully. "You didn't even have to do any work. The Genophage cure is gone, the Alliance is disgraced, I've lost my job, and you _finally_ got your hands on all that juicy technology that put the _upstart Humans_ so far ahead of the Hierarchy. Congratulations, Sparatus. You got everything you ever wanted. Now get the hell out!"

"I never wanted this." he mumbled with downcast eyes. He took a small sip from his drink, and Nihlus quickly replace Hannah's empty one.

Hannah laughed again, with even less mirth than before. "Don't try to bullshit a bullshitter, Sparatus. Had this happened any time in the past twenty five years, you'd have been dancing in the streets. If you're feeling guilty about John's-" Hannah's voice suddenly caught in her throat, and tears leaked from her eyes. She quickly downed the new martini, and shivered slightly. "Don't." she finished with a dismissive wave. "I'm sure you'll get over it in a few weeks. A month, tops."

Sparatus let out a low growl. "What do you want from me?" he demanded angrily.

"I want you to get the hell _out_!" she snapped, throwing her empty glass against the wall, where it shattered into pieces. "I don't need your shit, Sparatus! I'm nearly drowning in it as is!"

Sparatus inhaled deeply and wound himself up for a shouting match, but he suddenly stopped and reigned in his mounting anger. "For your information, I came to apologize."

"For what?" Hannah spat, her voice dripping with venom. "That you didn't get to pull the trigger yourself?"

"_For being an arrogant asshole!_" yelled the Turian suddenly. His words stunned Hannah, and Sparatus took advantage of her silence to down his own drink, which Nihlus quickly replaced. He must've had them waiting in the wings.

Hannah recovered after a moment. "I don't want your sympathy, Sparatus. Just… just leave." she ordered weakly.

"Not yet." he replied firmly. "I'm going to say my piece first. After that, if you want me to leave, I will." He took a few deep breaths to steady himself before continuing. "You're right: there was a time when I'd have given damn near _anything_ to see something like this happen. I'm sure you felt the same way about me when we first met. But things change in twenty five years. Priorities shift. I might not have admitted it, even to myself, but I respected you, Hannah. I admired your strength. Despite our differences, I could respect your style, even if I sometimes found it infuriating. But I never really considered you my equal. Not until recently. Until Sovereign hit, I told myself that I was better than you, both as a politician, and because I was Turian. I told myself that I was _right_ to feel superior to you, because the Hierarchy was better than the Alliance, and if it wasn't for your technology, we'd have already put you in your place."

Sparatus took a sip of his drink, which looked and smelled like brandy, and then continued his speech in a heavy voice. "Then, when I heard your son's voice on the bridge of the Destiny Ascension, asking Hackett to sacrifice Human lives to save ours, to save _mine_… the only thing I felt was shame. I was ashamed… because I wouldn't have done the same. I tried to lie to myself. I tried to convince myself that I could be just as big a man as your son. But I couldn't. Had our positions been reversed, I'd have left you to die up there, like a spirits-damned coward."

Sparatus took another swig of his drink before he continued. "It had nothing to do with stopping Sovereign. That was just another lie. I'd have let you die because I didn't _like_ you. I'd have let your _son_ die because he _insulted_ me. Do you know what it's like for a Turian soldier to admit to cowardice like that? I may as well have said that I enjoy killing children and partake in cannibalism."

Hannah snorted in derision. "Yeah right. Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

Nihlus chipped in. "He's not lying, Hannah. He might be exaggerating a bit, but cowardice under fire is one of our greatest cultural taboos."

Sparatus finished off his drink and waved for another. Even when Nihlus dropped two drinks in front of them, Hannah said nothing, and she was suddenly engrossed in studying the bottom of her glass like it held the answers to the secrets of the universe. They sat there in silence for a minute or so, but eventually, Hannah spoke.

"I guess I never really tried to consider it from your point of view." she mumbled.

"How do you mean?"

Hannah considered for a moment. "I'll put it to you this way: how tall would you say you are?"

Sparatus shot her a puzzled look. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question."

He shrugged. "Two hundred twenty centimeters, give or take."

"And how often do you think about it?"

"Hmm… Never, really. Why?"

Hannah chuckled slightly. "I think about it all the time. Every time I face you, I find myself subconsciously trying to find ways to seem taller. I try to sit us down, or move to an elevated position, or further away, so the difference isn't so apparent. I'm guessing you never really noticed, right?"

Sparatus mulled it over for a moment. "At the time… no, not really. But now that you mention it…"

"It's sort of the same thing." she explained. "I never really considered what it'd be like to negotiate from a position of weakness. The Alliance has always been the big kid on the playground, almost from day one. It never really occurred to me that the little guys might feel intimidated by me, just because I'm _me_. It always seemed so… _natural_, and I never really thought about it. But I should've."

"That… makes sense, actually." he replied with a nod.

"With everything that's happened… I guess this is my baptism by fire. I've spent most of my _career_ being in a position of power. Now that I don't have it, I'm lost. I'm so out of my element, it's a bit embarrassing. If I'd paid more attention during these past twenty five years, I could've learned something." Hannah paused, and then chuckled ruefully. "But I let my arrogance and pride blind me to that. Now, I'm choking on a slice of humble pie."

"Wait, what?" asked Sparatus concernedly. "You're choking?"

Nihlus let out a trilling laugh. "She's not literally choking, sir. 'Humble pie' is a Human expression meaning to offer an apology and face humiliation for a mistake." Seeing Sparatus and Hannah's turn impressed glances towards him, he shrank back a little. "What? You learn things when you spend as much time around Humans as I have." he mumbled.

The pair sat there in silence for a moment, but Sparatus finally broke the silence.

"So what now? You've got time on your hands. Do you have any plans?"

"Yeah." she scoffed. "Try not to get torn limb-from-limb before I can make it to a remote colony somewhere. There's nothing on the Citadel or in the Alliance for me anymore. Maybe it's best I just fade away."

"You can't mean that." protested the Turian Councilor. "You've spent _years_ in politics. With the Alliance preparing for the Reapers, there must be _something_ for you to do with your time."

Hannah shook her head bitterly. "Time. What a bunch of bullshit. For half my life, there was never enough of it. Now, it's all I've got. How ironic."

Sparatus considered for a moment, and then a thought occurred to him. "How did you do it?"

"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific than that, Sparatus." said Hannah with the smallest of grins.

He sighed. "How did you find the time for a family? When I took office, I figured I'd find the time _eventually_, but I never did. How did you?"

"You don't _find_ the time. You _make_ it." Hannah replied. Tears began running down her cheeks again, but she didn't seem to notice. "After John's father left me, I promised myself that I wouldn't let my career get in the way of his childhood. He was less than a year old, and at the time, Humans were still alone in the galaxy. Then, when I got caught up in the Contact War, I found myself rising through the ranks like a shooting star. Within two months, I went from being the XO of an old, beat-up dreadnaught, to being the captain of a brand new PRISM cruiser, to being the ambassador to an alien race, to being the second most powerful person in the Alliance." She laughed slightly, her troubles forgotten for a moment. "It made me kinda dizzy, actually."

Sparatus smiled along with her. "And then?" he prompted.

"Then… life." she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "The politics. The diplomacy. The bullshit in the aftermath of the Contact War. But I never let any of it stop me from spending time with him. I made sure to block out at least an hour, every single day, just for the two of us." Hannah smiled sadly as memories of her son boiled to the surface of her mind. "When he was little, we'd read a book, or watch a vid, or play a game. Anything, as long as it made him happy. When he went through his teenage years, things got harder."

"Why? He had the best education and training possible."

Hannah laughed again. "You didn't know John as a teenager. If you think he's bad now-" She cut off instantly, and her tears returned. Her voice sounded like she was being strangled. "I just miss him so damn much." she sobbed. "After everything he went through, after everything he survived… he was just _gone_. And I wasn't there for him. I let my goddamn _job_ get in the way."

Sparatus said nothing. There was nothing for him _to_ say. After a minute, Hannah's crying stopped, and she finished yet another drink. Suddenly, something she'd said piqued Sparatus' interest. "If you don't mind me asking…" he began. Hannah glanced up at him with swollen eyes. "What ever happened to his father?"

"Fuck if I know." said Hannah heatedly. "Son-of-a-bitch just up and left one day. No call, no note, not so much as a goddamn word. At first, I tried to convince myself that he'd be back soon, that he was just taking a break from it all. Eventually, I went through our things and burned all of his shit. John asked me about him a few times, but I never got around to telling him. Now, I wish I had. He deserved to know."

Sparatus shook his head angrily. "What kind of scum-sucking asshole leaves his infant son and his mother like that?" he growled. "People like that should be taken out and shot."

Hannah laughed again. "Glad we finally found something we can agree on. Took us long enough."

Sparatus chuckled slightly as well. "Oh, I'm sure there are other things we have in common. After all, you think Valern's a petty, scheming, manipulative little shit, right?" Hannah's laughter increased in volume and intensity, and Sparatus continued with a massive grin on his face. "You should've seen his predecessor. Every ten years we get a new Salarian Councilor, and every ten years, it's another petty, scheming, manipulative little shit. I'm starting to think that they take _classes_ on being petty, scheming, manipulative little shits."

Hannah clutched her sides as she laughed. "Hehehe… Remember when Tabril tried to bribe me… hehe… into giving him Alliance tech by offering to grant the Alliance settlement rights in the Armstrong Nebula? Hehehe… Even though he'd _already_ promised it to Jath'Amon for cracking down on piracy coming out of the Kite's Nest? He… I thought his eyes were going to come rolling out of his head when he realized our conversation was being broadcast to the Batarian embassy, and a shit-storm of media and PR dickery was coming his way. I still have the recording of his reaction on my omnitool. Wanna see it?"

Sparatus laughed as well. "Are you kidding? I'd _pay_ to see some quality entertainment like that."

Hannah pulled up the recording on her omnitool, and Sparatus slid his chair to the other side of the table to watch the vid. When it ended, Hannah replayed it over and over, and it only seemed to get funnier each time. She was still in pain, and she would be for some time, but for now, her troubles seemed to melt away.

* * *

"The Director will see you now, Miss Zorah."

Tali glanced up from the magazine she was reading to look at the Asari secretary. She'd been waiting in the small outer room of the Director's office for over an hour, and she was beginning to lose her patience. Getting a meeting with the Director of the Rangers was a task and a half, but considering her connections, Tali thought she'd have been in and out in less than ten minutes. Wincing when she remembered the news report about Yuri, Tali changed her mind.

'_I'm probably lucky she's willing to see me at_ all_.'_

Tali schooled her face to stillness as she rose from her chair and moved to the office door. She'd never met the woman personally, but Tal Harris was supposed to be nothing short of grating, if not downright rude. If Tali let anything slip during the meeting, it'd be used against her like a Billy club.

"Good morning, Director Harris." began Tali with a diplomatic smile. "Thank you for meeting me on such shor-"

"Sit down and shut up." ordered the lanky woman curtly. Tali's mouth clicked shut, and she obeyed quickly. Without glancing up from her data pad, Harris continued. "What do you want?"

"I'd like to be assigned to a Ranger unit again." requested Tali. "And be formally reinstated as a Geist."

"Why?"

"I want to help people." responded the Quarian. "When I was in the Rangers, I-"

Harris cut her off again. "Bullshit." she snapped. "I've got your file in my hands, Miss Zorah. What's the _real_ reason for this?"

"I… I need to take my mind off things for a while."

"So you see the Rangers as a distraction?" asked the Director bluntly. "An attitude like that's a good way to get someone killed."

"No!" protested Tali immediately. She started fidgeting. "I took my job as a Ranger very seriously. I just… don't have anywhere else to go."

"So we're your surrogate family now, is that it?" countered Harris. "What makes you think we want you to begin with?"

"Because I'm _good_." Tali retorted heatedly. "I was good enough to become a Geist when I turned twenty two, and I was good enough to become a Spectre by twenty five. I can count on one hand the number of people that managed something like that."

"Yes, and we all know how that turned out for Shepard, don't we?" sneered the Director. She blinked in surprise when Tali smacked her hand into the table loudly, but showed no further reaction.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about him that way." snarled the Quarian.

Harris studied her for a moment, and then let out a short, braying laugh. "You've got some guts, I'll give you that. Alright, you're in."

Tali was stunned, and her jaw dropped slightly. "Just… just like that?"

"What?" asked Harris in an annoyed tone. "You wanted back into the Geists, right? Well, you're back in. I'll have you assigned to the Colonial Patrol Force. Now, was there something else you wanted?"

"No, ma'am." responded Tali after a moment.

"Good. You ship out in three days. Now get the hell out. I've got a lot of work to do."

Tali nodded numbly, and rose to her feet. She had just enough presence of mind to snap a salute before she turned to leave, though Harris just ignored it.

'_Well, that was easy.'_

* * *

'_Well, that was easy.'_

That thought crossed Ashley Williams' mind for the fourth time in one day, as she made her way along the nearly empty streets outside of Elysium's only city, Fielding. She'd been assigned to the Marine outpost on the colony as a staff officer after being transferred off the Normandy a month ago. While Ashley had been grateful to finally receive an officers' commission, it pained her to leave her ship and crew behind. But she was a good soldier, and good soldiers followed orders. Right now, she was following orders from her CO to perform a surprise inspection of the outlying guard posts around the colony's perimeter, and at each one, she'd found the soldiers present were squared away, vigilant as always. Since the Alliance had declared martial law, everyone had been on high alert, and even if civilian life progressed mostly normally, military life was anything but.

"Just two more to go, ma'am." called Ashley's driver over his shoulder. Ashley was relegated to using a ground car to move around the planet, but she didn't mind. It gave her time to think, and James Vega was good company. The hulking Lieutenant seemed to love firearms just as much as her, and he was _hot_ to boot. Not that she was doing anything more than looking. There were the anti-frat regs to consider, and besides, Ashley liked her men decidedly more… Turian.

"You alright back there, _amiga_?" he asked after a moment. His question jarred her from her reverie, and she jerked slightly.

"Just fine, _chico_." she replied with a smirk. In public, or in front to Ashley's superiors, Vega was all business, keeping to proper military decorum, acting the part of a perfect soldier. In private, he was much more relaxed, and he and Ashley had developed a friendly rapport over the short time they'd known each other. To a certain extent, he reminded her of Shepard. Ashley's face fell at the thought, and pang of sadness welled up within her. "Just thinking about the past."

"Ah." he replied, catching her shift in mood. "Tell ya what: how about we go blow off some steam this weekend? I know you've got some leave coming up, and Colonel Davis promised me a three day pass if I could fix that _pendejo_ PRISM Gatling you brought with you. I don't know who used it last, but it looks like it was run over by a tank."

Ashley laughed. "Last guy to use it was named Urdnot Wrex." she explained. "Krogan merc who fought with me at the Battle of the Citadel. He was… angry."

Vega let out a snort of laughter. "_Mierda_. No wonder it looked like crap. Did he try to eat it or something?"

Ashley laughed as well. "Nah. He just used it as a club to beat the shit out of a Geth Colossus."

"¡_Dios mío_!" exclaimed the marine. His voice dropped to a mutter. "Remind me not to piss off any Krogan mercs."

"Ah, Wrex ain't so bad." said Ashley with a wave. "Once you get to know him, he's like a big, fluffy teddy bear."

"You've got some _loco_ ideas of what constitutes _fluffy_." he said with another laugh. "Now, what about those drinks?"

Ashley blushed slightly at remembering what'd happened the last time she got drunk off her ass. She couldn't remember _all_ of it, thank god, but what she _did_ remember was bad enough. "Gonna have to pass, Vega. I appreciate the offer, but booze and I don't mix."

"Fair enough." he replied with a shrug. The car rolled to a stop, and he exited to open her door. "Well, here's the next guard post. I doubt we'll ever see so much as a shot out here, but it never hurts to be vigilant, right ma'am?" The friendly soldier was gone, replace by the professional marine.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." agreed Ashley.

* * *

"Sometimes liberty takes a backseat to necessity, Garrus." replied Nihlus, popping off a single shot. The two Turians had been at the private firing range on the Citadel for the better part of an hour, honing their skills. "That's the price the Spectres pay for our status. We destroy liberty to protect the galaxy.

"And what about the _people_, Nihlus? The Council, and by extension the Spectres, exists to protect _them_. If we destroy the liberty of the common man, how does that _help_ anything?"

Nihlus sighed, and then inserted a new heat sink into his Widow. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Garrus. You know that."

Garrus readjusted the sightings on the scope he was peering down to give him a moment to think. He'd gotten so used to using the chronorift rifle provided to him by the Alliance that he'd gotten rusty with more conventional weapons. Then again, now that the Alliance had handed over the vast majority of their technology, the other races were already beginning to copy it. Still, without specs to chrono tech, the 'fuck everything' rifle, as Garrus had come to think of it, was a distant dream.

"Where does it stop?" he asked, taking a shot of his own. It struck the distant target two centimeters from the point he'd been aiming, so he went back to his scope. "And what makes the Council any more important than the ordinary people?"

Nihlus sighed again before firing. "I'm not the person you should be having his discussion with. In fact, Spectres in _general_ aren't the right people to debate ethics with. We're above the law so we can get _results_, ethics and morality be damned."

Garrus grunted, and then fired again. Dead center. Perfect. "And that's why my father is so dead set against me becoming a Spectre. They're too far removed from the common people to be trusted with that kind of power."

Nihlus looked up from his scope. "You can't have it both ways, Garrus." he chided. "Either you play by _their_ rules and go crawling back to C-Sec, or you play by your _own_ rules in the Spectres."

Garrus laughed slightly. "But they're not _my rules_, are they? Despite their power, Spectres still answer to the Council. Maybe that was why I enjoyed working with Shepard so much. Ultimately, he really _did_ play by his own rules, and it _worked_."

Nihlus chuckled as well. "It did, didn't it? I'll admit, working with him was… unique. Before I met him, I'd never considered going against the Council, even slightly. Then, lo and behold, not a month later I'm standing in the Council Chambers, telling them off for being arrogant and refusing to see reason."

Garrus' face fell, and his voice took on a sad tone. "He has… he _had_ that effect on people, didn't he? Talked Wrex down from killing a Rachni Queen, helped make peace between the Quarians and the Geth, got me to leave C-Sec… he was one of a kind."

Nihlus suddenly sat up from his prone position, and began stowing his equipment. "I think that's enough for today. I have to ask, though: if not C-Sec, and not the Spectres, then _what_? Surely you don't intend on becoming a merc."

Garrus sat up as well. "Of course not. I joined C-Sec because I wanted to make a difference. Maybe I'll go somewhere I can do that. Play by _my_ rules, for once."

"And where would that be?" asked the older Turian sarcastically. "Omega?"

Garrus chucked briefly, but then stopped and considered the possibility. "Actually… Omega's just filled to _bursting_ with slaver scum and criminal assholes, isn't it?" he mused, tapping a talon against his chin. "That's not a bad idea."

Nihlus shot an alarmed look at Garrus. "Wait a minute. I was kidding. You don't really intend to go to _Omega_, do you?"

Garrus shrugged. "Why not? I might be able to do some good while I'm there."

"You _might_ be able to get yourself killed, Garrus." Nihlus retorted. "Look, I know Shepard's death hit you hard. It hit me pretty hard too. But it's no reason to throw your life away like that."

"Have some faith, Nihlus. Besides, if you're worried, you could come with. We'd make a hell of a team."

Nihlus hesitated, but then shook his head. "I'll admit, the offer's tempting. Believe it or not, I joined the Spectres to help people too. But I can't just throw my life away to go kill mercs on Omega."

"Fair enough. But if you're ever in the neighborhood, you should stop on by. I'll take you out for drinks bought with stolen slaver credits." Garrus smirked.

"So that's it, then?" asked Nihlus. "Just like that? You pack up and go to Omega based on a sarcastic suggestion and a snap decision?"

"Nihlus, it there's one thing I learned from Shepard, it's that sometimes you gotta go with your gut. And right now, my gut's telling me to go to Omega."


	4. Chapter 1: The Skyllian Blitz

Chapter 1: The Skyllian Blitz

Pala Tovar had been running with her small group of mercenaries for more than ten years. She wasn't the strongest, or the fastest, or even the toughest Batarian in the galaxy. But what she lacked in physique, she more than made up for in smarts. And right now, her brain was screaming at her, trying to tell her that what she and her crew were about to do was stupid. More than stupid, it was downright suicidal. Attacking a small Human colony in the Terminus Systems, or even in the lightly patrolled Attican Traverse, was one thing. Attacking a colony in the Skyllian Verge, well within Alliance territory and officially under protection from the Rangers and Alliance Navy, was another beast entirely.

"This is a bad idea." she said for at least the tenth time in the last hour.

"What the fuck are you worried about?" asked her second-in-command, Tovok, in his usual gruff voice. He was midway through cleaning his Lancer Assault Rifle, and he didn't bother to look up from where he was leaning against one of their Makos. "The Humans are too busy with their preparations for the 'Reapers' to notice an attack on a small colony like Elysium." His tone of voice made it clear what he thought of the Reapers: that they were bullshit, obviously. "We'll be in and out before they even know what hit 'em."

Pala squeezed her four eyes shut and shook her head. Tovok would likely sell his own mother if she made him a decent chunk of credits, but this was getting ridiculous. "And what happens if they're not as unprepared as Haliat seems to think they are, hmm? They drop a few dozen of those damnable PRISM cruisers on our heads and blow us to ions. _That's_ what I'm worried about. No pile of credits is worth dying for."

"What makes you think the two-eyed pricks have any idea we're coming?" countered the other Batarian angrily, still working on his rifle. "They're not all-seeing."

"And yet they managed to kick the Salarian STG _and_ the Hierarchy Navy clean in the teeth, _simultaneously_." she retorted. "Whatever you think of the Humans, it's clear that they aren't push-overs."

"Ah, quit yer bitching. We're past the point of no return now anyways."

Pala didn't bother replying. For all here anxiety about the attack, Tovok was right. It was too late to turn back now, so she may as well focus on the task at hand. If she didn't, she could very well get her head blown off. Or her body snap-frozen and shattered to pieces by a cryogenic rifle. Or be vaporized by a PRISM tower. Or get fried by a Tesla trooper. Or-

"Fuck." she muttered. "This isn't helping." Despite her attempts to focus on the near-future, and to prepare her kit for when she hit the ground in five hours, she still couldn't keep her attention on anything except how idiotic this was. Lacking anything better to do, she made her way out of the cargo hold of the small freighter she commanded and to the bridge. Her pilot, a Turian named Zad, turned as she entered the small room. He wasn't a bad sort, for a merc, but he enjoyed the killing his job let him do just a little _too_ much. Still, he was smarter than Tovok, so maybe he'd have some insights to share.

"Let me guess." he began, turning to face her. "You don't like this plan either, do you?"

"What gave you that idea?" she asked with a smirk. "The fact I've been pacing a hole through the damn deck-plates for the last two hours, or the fact that hitting a Human settlement is usually a slow and painful way to commit suicide?"

"Bit of both, actually." Zad answered, spinning back to his controls. "Still, for the money Haliat seems to think we'll make, I'd say it's worth it. Not to mention the… _fringe_ benefits." he added with a twisted grin. Whether he was thinking about captives or killing, she couldn't tell. Probably both.

Pala shook her head. "We've got nearly a hundred ships in this fleet Haliat scraped together. Most of those ships are freighters, or frigates. Overall, we've got two dreadnaughts and fourteen cruisers. If there's even a half dozen of those PRISM cruises nearby, we'll get our heads rammed up our asses. There's just too damn much risk."

"Then why the fuck did you agree to come in the first place?" asked Zad with a small chuckle.

"Because I didn't know the Humans were going to declare _martial law_ on their entire fucking species." Pala snapped. "Even the Hierarchy never went that far, not even during the Krogan Rebellions. Aren't you even a _little_ worried?"

Zad hesitated for a moment. "Some. But the way I see it, we get rich or die trying. And I don't know about you, but I've survived nineteen years in this line of work. I got no intention of getting my ass blown off during a simple raid like this."

"Get rich or die trying, huh?" asked Pala with a thoughtful expression. "That gives me an idea. Just out of curiosity, is there anything you _wouldn't_ be willing to do for a big pile of credits?"

"Not much." chuckled the Turian again. He did that a lot. "You got something specific in mind?"

"Well… what do you think pays better: the spoils we'll get from this raid, or the Alliance for a timely warning that it's coming?"

Zad snapped his head around to face her. "Are you suggesting that we stab Haliat in the back?"

"Look at it this way." replied the Batarian with a grin. "There's less chance of us dying, and if things go south for the rest of the assholes attacking during the raid, we'll have a few friends in the Alliance to back us up. That means more money, less risk, and maybe even a chance at future employment."

"You'd work for the _Humans_?" asked Zed with a disbelieving stare.

"I'll _work_ for whoever pays well." replied Pala with a grin. "And according to a Krogan friend of mine, the Alliance pays very,_ very_ well. Urdnot Wrex got enough credits from them for helping to take down that rogue Spectre to start his own _empire_, which is exactly what he seems to be doing. They aren't averse to working with mercs, which is what we are. Are you in?"

Zad hem-hawed for a moment. "I don't know. Elanos Haliat isn't the type of guy you piss off and expect to live."

"And if Haliat were out of the way?" she asked with a knowing smirk. "After all, the Humans will wanna get their hands on the person who orchestrated this raid. If we can give him to them, there might even be a little bonus in it for us."

The Turian pilot considered for a moment longer, then nodded. "I'm in. But you get to tell Tovok and the rest of the guys."

"Fine. If he doesn't like it, I'll drop his ass off at the next planet we stop at."

"But the next planet we're stopping at is Elysium."

"I know. Funny how that works, huh?"

* * *

"_A what_?" snapped Hackett, his eyes tearing away from the data pad he was holding.

"A raid on a Human colony within the next forty eight hours." replied feminine the Batarian voice. Apparently, the mercenary he was speaking to had spent nearly three hours working her way through various diplomatic and military channels before someone with brains realized they should put her through to Hackett directly. How it had taken that long, he wasn't sure, but the fact that it had made him fume.

"What sort of raid are we talking about?" he asked suspiciously. Even if she were telling the truth, which was a damn big 'if,' he needed more intel.

"You know, slaving, piracy, looting; that sort of thing. Standard raid." she replied nonchalantly. "But unlike most raids, this one's big. We're talking just over a hundred vessels, and more than two thousand mercs."

"And how would someone like you come into possession of such… _interesting_ information?" asked the Admiral. He wasn't averse to dealing with mercenaries, depending on the situation, but it was risky. This could all be one big hoax, just to squeeze him for cash or information.

"I'm on one of those ships is how." she replied with a growl.

"I see. Assuming I believe you, why would you betray your comrades?"

"_Comrades_?" she scoffed. "Why should I give two shits about the rest of those pricks? I'd _betray_ them, as you so eloquently put it, because I like my head attached to my shoulders. Plus, I figure the Alliance can afford to, ah, _reimburse me_ for my troubles."

"How much reimbursement are we talking?" asked Hackett, now more than just curious.

"Depends on how much intel you want." she replied. "For what I've already given you, at least one million credits. That's a hundred thousand for each member of my crew, plus a bit extra for me."

"And if I were willing to pay more?"

"Well, the exact timing of the attack would cost you as much again." she replied in an unusually business-like tone. "The same for the location it's going down, and twice as much for the name of the guy who orchestrated it and where he's holed up."

Hackett rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He couldn't trust her, not entirely, but she _had_ come forward with the intel without being asked, and a few thousand bucks was a cheap price to pay for saving the lives of a colony and god knows how many people. "Alright. I'll take the time and location for now. First though, I want your name. Call it insurance against a knife in the back."

The Batarian hesitated for a moment. "And what guarantee do I have you won't stab _me_ in the back?"

"I'll toss in an extra half million credits." replied the admiral. Most of this money would come out of his rather deep pockets, at least initially, but if the intel panned out, the Alliance would reimburse him. It was still risky, but he had a gut feeling she was leveling with him, one he couldn't shake.

She hesitated a moment more, then caved. "Pala Tovar. I'm sending you the account information. Just be aware that I'll be-"

"Forwarding it to a different account via a Volus banking consortium, yeah, yeah, I know the drill." interrupted Hackett impatiently. This wasn't his first rodeo. The Batarian didn't respond, but still sent the contact information. He transferred the credits, all three and a half million of them, to it, and after a moment, she spoke.

"There it is. The attack's happening on Elysium, in the Skyllian Verge. It's about two hours out."

"_Two hours_?!" growled Hackett. "How the fuck am I supposed to get a response team to the Verge in two damn _hours_?"

"Not my problem." she replied snidely. "And if your people hadn't fucked around connecting me to you, you'd have more time."

If he could've seen her, Hackett would've glowered. As it was, he fumed for a moment before his brain began working again.

"Alright. If this pans out, I'm sure we can do some more business. Do you have any offer of proof besides your word?"

She said nothing, and for a moment, Hackett thought she'd hung up on him. But then, a Turian voice came through over the com line.

"_Listen up. We're hitting Elysium in three days, 0600 local time. I want the colony obliterated and everyone in, out, and gone before the Rangers or the Alliance get there. Don't fuck this up, and we'll all go home rich."_

"There's more where that came from." said Pala after the recording finished. "But more intel means more credits."

"Obliterated?" asked Hackett worriedly. "I thought you said this was a raid."

"It is, but the guy who set this up has some sort of beef with the Alliance. I don't know what it is, but he's hell-bent on wiping the entire colony out."

"Shit." murmured Hackett. Now he was worried. Raids on outlying colonies happened all the time, but they were usually focused on getting in and out as quickly as possible to maximize profit and minimize losses, not on causing damage. If someone was willing to risk getting hanging around to cause maximum destruction, a lot of innocent people could die. He typed a short command in his omnitool, and it opened a direct line to the Ranger's HQ on Arcturus Station. A moment later, the annoyed voice of Tal Harris came through.

"What'd ya want, Hackett?" she asked curtly.

"Play it again, Pala." he ordered.

The recording played again over the com line, and when it finished, Harris swore.

"Fuck. Is that 0600 _today_?"

"Yes." answered the admiral. "I need you to send whatever you can of the CPF out to Elysium, ASAP."

The Director's muttering and rapid typing played over the com line for a few seconds, but a moment later, her voice returned. "I can't get anyone out there sooner than four hours. Contact whoever you have on the ground and let them know what's up."

"There are barely two hundred soldiers on Elysium." replied Hackett grimly. "Even with advance warning, they'll be hard-pressed to hold out against a force this size."

"Not a damn thing I can do about that, Admiral." retorted Harris. "I said four hours, and I meant four hours, and no sooner… unless you have any bright ideas?"

"Hmm." Hackett rubbed his chin thoughtfully. An idea occurred to him. "Pala, how much for a fifth column?"

"A what?" asked the Batarian confusedly.

"How much would it cost to convince you to switch sides?" clarified the admiral.

"A whole fucking bunch." she answered after a moment. "I called you because I figured this was the best way _not_ to die."

Hackett smiled darkly. "I'll make you a deal, Pala. You accept this job and work for me directly, and I'll pull some strings. Whatever warrants or criminal records you and your crew have in the Alliance go up in smoke, and you become a private contractors working for the Alliance Navy. You'll get a signing bonus of five million credits to split however you want, plus your previous price for the rest of the intel you offered."

She didn't respond, but Hackett could just imagine her licking her lips. She stood to make better than ten million credits, all in less than a day. Combined with the fringe benefits, it was a tempting offer. "Deal. I'll send you my ship's IFF so the Alliance soldiers on Elysium don't blow me out of the sky the moment I touch down."

* * *

"Zad, Tovok, get the rest of the crew together and meet in the cargo hold. We've got some business to go over."

Pala's order didn't go over well with the rest of the crew, but Zad knew what was coming. When the nine of them had assembled in one spot, she began.

"I've just accepted a new contact for our services."

"From who?" asked Tovok. "Haliat's supposed to have us on his payroll until further notice."

Pala shook her head. "We don't work for Haliat anymore. As of ten minutes ago, we work for the Alliance."

There were some angry and outraged shouts, but she silenced them with a single shot into the ground from her pistol. Tovok wasn't intimidated, and he spoke. "Why the _fuck_ would we want to work for those two-eyed assholes?"

"Nine millions credits." she responded, conveniently forgetting about the extra half million she'd already siphoned off for her name _and_ the extra million she decided to hold onto for herself. "Plus clean records in Alliance space and contracts to work for the Alliance Navy until further notice."

Most of the crew gaped at her response. It'd normally take them the better part of a year to earn that much cash, so doing it in less than a day was thrilling, to say the least. "I'll admit, that's a damn good reason." replied her pilot.

"A million good reasons each, actually." she countered. "The cash is already in the forwarding account. As soon as we're done here, we can divvy it up. Hopefully, when this is all over, we'll be set for the better part of a year, and that's assuming the Alliance doesn't renew our contract. With them gearing up to fight the Reapers, they're throwing money around like candy."

"You don't seriously believe this Reaper shit, do you?" asked Tovok contemptuously. "It's complete nonsense."

"It doesn't make a difference _what_ I believe, Tovok." retorted Pala. "If the Alliance believes it, and they pay me well enough, I'll believe whatever the fuck they _want_ me to believe."

"I can get behind that." said Zad with his usual chuckle. "What's the plan, boss?"

"We hit the ground near the Alliance outpost on the planet." she replied. "They have our IFF, so they won't blow us out of the sky the moment we touch down. We're supposed to meet some Alliance officer, a Colonel Davis. He'll have further orders for us when we get there."

"What about the rest of the mercs?" asked Tovok. "They won't like being stabbed in the back."

"Fuck 'em." snapped Pala. "If they had any brains, they wouldn't be attacking a Human colony while the entire _Alliance_ is on alert. We only need to hold out for two hours before the Rangers show up. How hard can that be?"

* * *

"_Two hours_?" asked Ashley incredulously. "Even with our tech and advanced warning to prepare, ten-to-one odds make for a bad situation all around, sir."

"I realize that, Major." replied Colonel Davis, using her Army rank. Switching back and forth between the Alliance Navy and the Army made for a mess of confusion in regards to her official rank. Major and Lieutenant Commander were technically equivalent, but it still caused no end of befuddlement for most people. "However, we do what we can with what we have. And according to Hackett, we're getting some help from a small group of mercenary turncoats."

"Mercs, sir?" asked Ashley with a quirked eyebrow. "Can we trust them?"

"Considering they're gonna be fighting and dying alongside us, we'd better." he replied. "Besides, you've worked with mercenaries before. If I remember correctly, Urdnot Wrex was a mercenary when Commander Shepard recruited him. And part of the reason we only need to make it _two_ hours instead of _four_ is that the leader of this group warned Hackett the attack was coming."

Ashley opened her mouth to protest that Wrex was different, but she stopped. He _was_ different, in the end, but at first, he was exactly the same. "Yes, sir." she said instead.

"Good." said Davis with a nod. "I've already got most of the defense force rounding up civvies and herding them towards some makeshift bunkers in Fielding Field." He said the last with a smirk. Whoever thought to name the sports arena something so ridiculous must've had a strange sense of humor. Davis continued. "Unfortunately, there are more than ten thousand of them out there, and we can't get to them all in time, especially those in the outermost farms. I want you to put together a squad and start rounding up the people in the outlying areas as fast as possible. When the raid finally _does_ arrive, be prepared to go to ground and start hitting them where it hurts. I'll direct the friendly merc ship to meet up with you when they arrive."

"These mercenaries I'm supposed to work with… do you know anything about them?" asked Ashley slowly.

"Not as much as I'd like." replied Davis with a frustrated sigh. "The leader's a Batarian female named Pala Tovar. She's got a nine person team, and they've all got better than a decade of combat experience. Other than that, I'm flying as blind as you are."

"_Nine people_, sir?" asked Ashley a little incredulously. "What good will _nine_ people do against a battalion-sized force?"

Davis grinned slightly. "As I recall, your team was only nine people strong when you took down Saren." His grin faded. "Well, ten if you count the traitor. How in god's name could you _work_ with that son of a bitch, Major?" His voice carried an accusatory tone that made Ashley fidget uncomfortably.

"I had my orders. Plus, the Alliance spooks put a QEC triggered bomb in his head, sir." she replied defensively. "We had a Geth platform with his finger on the button stare at Yuri every minute of every day, just waiting to turn his brains to scrambled eggs. And the few times Pluribus _wasn't_ watching him, he was either a meat popsicle, or being watched by two Geists, _both_ of whom had triggers as well."

"And if he managed to MC one of them?"

"Geists take anti-MC courses as part of their training, sir." she retorted. "And Commander Shepard forced the entire rest of the team to undergo anti-MC training as well. By the end of it, even _Yuri_ wouldn't have been able to get to us."

Davis grunted. "Fair enough. Considering you managed to bring down the bastard that was responsible for Eden Prime, I guess the end's justifies the means in this case." He leaned forward, and his voice lowered. "I had some friends on Eden Prime, Major, both in _and_ out of the force. Frankly, I think we owe you and Shepard a debt of gratitude for bringing Saren down. I can't say Ryan didn't get what was coming to him, but I understand his reasons."

"And… Hannah Shepard?" she asked tentatively.

Davis sighed again. "The woman lost her son. Despite what she did, I'd say that's punishment enough for anyone; enough, and then some. Besides, if Yuri really _is_ dead, then she managed to get rid of him once and for all. Shoulda happened _decades_ ago, really."

Ashley nodded solemnly. "Sir, I should go."

Davis returned the nod. "Yes, yes you should. Good luck, Major."

* * *

Ninety minutes after having spoken to Colonel Davis, Ashley was racing around the countryside in an MIAFV. For once, she was driving instead of Vega. The hulking soldier was perched in the forward turret of the tank, manning a GatGun. Two other Alliance soldiers occupied the remaining turrets, which took on the shapes of a Perch and PRISM Cannon, respectively, and a final grunt was acting as navigator.

"Ma'am, we've got a single vessel approaching our coordinates." reported the navigator. "The IFF pegs it as the mercenary ship we're supposed to be on the lookout for."

"There's our backup." said Ashley, turning the vehicle towards the estimated landing site of the ship, which was an open field some distance away. The Alliance soldiers arrived first, but not by much. Within a minute, the ship, a small freighter, had set down softly and had cut its' engines. When a ramp extended from the main cargo bay of the vessel, and the doors opened, a pair of Turian Makos rolled out, with a single Batarian female following soon after.

"That must be the mercenary _puta_ we're supposed to meet." called Vega from his turret. "You're on, Major."

Ashley grumbled a bit, but made her way out of the driver's seat and through the rear hatch of the tank. She wasn't thrilled about working with mercs in such a high-risk situation, and _Batarian_ mercs at that, but she had her orders, and _any_ help was welcome in a situation like this. "Watch my ass out there, Lieutenant." she called as she exited the vehicle. His chuckled response came through the com unit build into her helmet.

"If you insist, _mi bonita_. Gotta say, it looks mighty fine from here."

She suppressed a snigger of her own. She _had_ asked for it, after all. "You Pala Tovar?" she called to the Batarian.

"Only if you're Major Ashley Williams." came the response.

'_Be a professional.'_ Ashley reminded herself. "I am. Glad to see you brought some hardware. I take it you couldn't squeeze into one of those sardine cans?" She asked because the Makos barely had enough room for four people. If there were nine mercs, it stood to reason that there'd be an odd man, or in this case _woman_, out.

"Right in one." replied the Batarian with what looked like a grin. It was difficult to tell, since Ashley hadn't seen too many Batarians in her life, let alone female ones. "Got some space in the monster of a recon vehicle? I could use a lift, and we can coordinate better with me onboard."

"We can squeeze you in. Welcome aboard." said Ashley, extending her hand. Pala shook if briefly, then followed Ashley towards the open hatch of the tank when she waved. "Who's driving the Makos?"

"My second in command and my pilot. Names are Tovok and Zad, respectively. Zad's an alright guy, for a Turian merc, but Tovok's not too fond of Humans."

"I take it he's another Batarian?"

"He is." came Pala's terse reply. "You got a problem with that?"

"Not particularly." said Ashley, trying to remain diplomatic as she entered the tank. "I just don't trust mercs most of the time. You show me you can handle the shitstorm we're about to fly through, and that'll change."

"Oh we can handle it, believe me." said Pala, following her in. "Can you?"

Ashley smirked. "You ever hear of a guy named Urdnot Wrex?"

"Krogan merc and warlord. Real badass, or so I've heard. He was part of the crew that took down that rogue Spectre."

"So was I. We fought as part of the same squad in the Battle of the Citadel."

Pala whistled through her teeth. "You fucking with me?"

"She ain't kidding, _ojos_." said Vega, peering down from his turret. "I spent most of two entire weeks trying to repair the PRISM Gatling Wrex used in that battle."

It was unlikely that Pala had understood the veiled insult Vega had given her, since it was in Spanish, but Ashley still felt the need to reprimand him gently. They couldn't afford to fight amongst themselves. "No need to be rude, _chico_. Apologize to the nice lady." she ordered, sitting down behind the wheel.

Vega looked like he had swallowed his tongue. "Sorry ma'am."

Pala took a seat behind Ashley. After a moment, she spoke. "Insult? What insult?"

"Ask Vega." replied the Major, starting the vehicle forward. He'd gotten himself into this, he could get himself out. Vega grumbled under his breath when he heard Ashley speak, and his response to Pala's question was unintelligible. "Speak up, Lieutenant."

"_Ojos_ means eyes in Spanish." he said more loudly than before, facing Pala with an embarrassed look on his face. "Sorry, ma'am."

Pala shot him an angry look, but got over it quickly. She turned back to Ashley and spoke again. "Look, I know Batarians don't have the best reputations in the galaxy, and mercs aren't much better, but is this gonna be a problem?"

"Not as long as I call the shots." replied Ashley, signaling the two mercenary Makos to follow. She could see other ships setting down in the distance, and these weren't friendly. "He just needs some time to get used to you."

"Fair enough." she replied. "I guess I wouldn't trust me too much either, in your place. After all, I… what's the phrase? Switch-coat? It switch-coated once already. No guarantee I won't again."

"Turncoat." corrected Ashley. "And it's not that I _distrust_ you. My old Skipper once said that he'd trust someone until they gave him a reason _not_ to. As long as you do your job, we'll get along just fine. The Alliance takes care of its' friends." Her tone got hard as she continued. "But if you angle for a backstab, you should know that he Alliance makes just as good an _enemy_ as it makes an _ally_."

Pala smirked. "Considering what the Alliance did to hunt down Saren and the Geth? I believe that." she replied drolly.

"Heretic Geth." corrected Ashley again. "Some of them are alright. One in particular I'd even go so far as to call a friend." Pala gaped at the idea of an Alliance soldier calling a Geth 'friend,' but she didn't have time to respond.

"We're about two minutes out from the nearest enemy ship, ma'am." chirped her navigator suddenly.

"Alright ladies, lock and load." ordered Ashley. "In the words of Commander John Shepard: 'It's time to teach them what happens when you fuck with the Alliance.' "

* * *

**_Author notes: Surprised? Believe it or not, the Skyllian Blitz and the raid on Torfan didn't happen in TDoM's timeline. At least, not until now. I've actually had something like this planned from nearly the start of the series, which is part of the reason Shepard was a Sole Survivor. He couldn't be the Lion of Elysium or the Butcher of Torfan because they _hadn't happened yet_. After all, getting past PRISM networks and psychic radar takes a lot of time and planning, far more than Elanos Haliat put into the Blitz in canon ME._**

**_Also, in case you couldn't guess, Pala Tovar is my very first OC. She's not based on a RA character like Yuri, nor is she based on anything or any_one_ else. We'll see how my first _true_ foray into OCs goes._**


	5. Chapter 2: The Lion of Elysium

Chapter 2: The Lion of Elysium

"Watch your fining lanes!" barked Ashley through her com unit. While closing the distance between their original positions and the just-landed raider ships, one of Pala's Makos had drifted in front of the MIAFV, blocking their field of fire. "Fifty meter spread on the vehicles, with ours in the center!"

"Watch it, Human." growled a Batarian voice in response. "I take orders from Pala, not _you_."

Pala leaned over Ashley's shoulder to speak through her com unit, her voice kept carefully neutral. "For this battle, her orders are my orders, Tovok. Now get back in formation." The other Batarian grumbled for a moment, but his vehicle moved, mirroring the other Mako, which had already take up its' position on the other side of the Alliance tank.

"That would be Tovok, right?" asked Ashley, risking a quick glance over her shoulder.

"Yep." replied Pala. "Zad's in the other one. I think he's ex-military, because he knows his shit when it comes to small unit tactics."

"You _think_?" asked Vega with what was presumably a quirked eyebrow. It was impossible to tell, since his head was hidden inside his turret. The vehicle was less than a kilometer from the Batarian lines, and the soldier in the Perch was steadily firing rounds into the raiders, though the rest of the turrets, including Vega's, were still out of range.

"Hey, he's a good soldier, and he follows orders." replied the female Batarian with a shrug. "He doesn't like talking about his past, so I never really asked. As long as he does his job well, who cares where he got the training?"

"Fair enough, I suppose." said Ashley. "I guess I never really asked where some of my squad mates got their training when I worked for Shepard. Wrex in particular was always a bit of a mystery."

"So what's the plan, ma'am?" asked Vega, interrupting the conversation.

"Besides 'kill all sons-a-bitches?' " said Ashley with a smirk. "We need to evac the civvies somewhere safe. There's a mine complex not far from here. We'll round up a small group and escort them there, then go back out and repeat the process."

"Sounds simple. What's the catch?" asked Pala

"We're outnumbered ten to one and backup's two hours out."

"So we're in a target rich environment." she said with a grin. "What's the catch?"

Ashley grinned widely as well, but didn't reply. "We're in range! Light em' up, _chico_!"

Vega's GatGun roared, and began pouring a stream of hot death downrange into the raider formations. They quickly tried to take cover behind whatever was at hand, but between the turrets on the mercenary Makos and the PRISM Cannon on the MIAFV, the pair of small freighter's they'd landed in were quickly reduced to twisted piles of scrap and slag. The small cluster of houses and prefab structures nearby that'd been their target was mostly untouched, with only a few stray holes and scorch marks from weapons fire. After the small band of enemies had been eliminated, Ashley surveyed the battlefield. Not seeing any more raiders for the moment, she quickly stopped the tank, and waved for Pala and Vega to follow as she exited the rear hatch. They fell in behind her, weapons drawn, just as the two Makos pulled up as well.

"Alright, Zad, Tovok, stay in your vehicles and cover us. We'll round up the civvies and herd them outside." ordered Ashley. Two grunts of acknowledgement came through her com unit, and she approached the structures cautiously, making sure to check for signs of ambushes and booby-traps. Seeing none, she banged twice on the door to the first structure, and called out. "Hello?! This is Major Ashley Williams, of the Alliance! If someone's inside, you can come out now! It's safe!"

A few moments passed, then the door to the structure slid open, and a pair of terrified civilians, a Human and a Quarian, stepped out. "Oh, thank god." said the Human, with relief palpable on his face. "I was afraid you were those raiders."

"Nope." said Ashley with a shake of her head. "Look, it's safe here for the moment, but it won't be for long. We need to evac everyone here to the nearby mines. Do you know where they are?" When he nodded, she continued. "Go around to these houses, and get everyone outside. We'll escort you to the safety, and then set a team to guard the entrance."

The pair nodded, and then hurried off. Within a few minutes, nearly twenty civilians, ranging in age from young children up to a pair of elderly grandparents, were huddled in a tight cluster in the center of the group of buildings. Ashley hopped back into the drivers' seat of her tank and switched on the speaker system built into the MIAFV. "Listen up. We're gonna escort you to the mines nearby, and set a small guard. The Alliance is sending reinforcements in two hours, so by tonight, you'll all be back at home, having dinner with your families. I need everyone to go quickly and calmly to the mines, and do what we tell you to do. Let's move."

Fortunately, the five minute trip to the underground complex was uneventful, though other raider ships were visible in the distance. There wasn't too much they could do about that, though. When they arrived, the civilians quickly entered the expansive darkened tunnel, and Ashley sent out another order. "Tovok, stay here and park your Mako just inside the entrance. Use it for cover, and if anyone that isn't Alliance tries to come through, blast 'em."

"Understood."

"Alright, we're splitting up." continued the major. "Vega, hop in Zad's Mako and have one of the mercs come over here. Show them around the area, and start bringing civvies back to the mine. You're in charge."

"Yes ma'am." he replied with a quick salute. The navigator from Ashley's tank took his spot in the MIAFV's turret, and the merc that was replacing Vega, another Turian, strapped himself into one of the rear seats a minute later. Without further ado, the two APCs went their separate ways, with Ashley's heading towards another cluster of prefabs in the distance, and Zad's going towards a lone house relatively nearby.

"Well, this is easy." said Pala nonchalantly. She yelped slightly when Ashley rapped her on the head with an armored hand. "What was that for?"

"Every time someone says something like that, things go to hell in a hand basket."

* * *

"So why didn't he like to sing?"

"Are you kidding?" asked Hannah with a small grin, answering between swallowing bites of her steak. "A big, tough, N7 Marine like John, singing songs from Human classical operas? I don't know how his pilot got a recording of him singing Ave Maria, but I'm guessing it involved a lost bet or blackmail. Probably both."

Sparatus chuckled slightly. "I suppose that makes sense. I'll admit, the first time I saw the vid, I laughed for nearly a minute straight, even though we'd just fired him. It just doesn't seem like him."

"Neither does dancing, but he could do that too. Both were part of his formal education, actually."

"Ah." said the Turian Councilor with a knowing look on his face. "He always did strike me as well educated, even if he was a bit… _rough_ around the edges."

"That was probably the military training." replied Hannah with a small shrug. "The moment he turned eighteen, he signed up with the Rangers. I think it was to get away from me, actually." she said with a small laugh. "Even when I was working or away on business, I was constantly getting updates from his tutors. In hindsight, I was a bit of a helicopter parent."

"Helicopter?"

"An old Earth flying machine." she explained. "It used a system of rotary wings to hover in place over specific areas, and either provided close air support, or infiltration and exfiltration for small units and wounded. It means I tended to hover over him, which was probably a bit oppressive of me. For him, just getting away from home, even if it meant joining the Rangers, likely felt awfully liberating."

"Did you approve?" asked Sparatus inquisitively. "I know that among Turians, service to the state is mandatory when we become adults, but it's different for Humans."

Hannah considered for a moment by taking a drink of her wine. "Honestly… yes. I won't say it was what I had planned, but was his choice, and I could respect that."

Sparatus was about to continue when both his and Hannah's omnitools lit up. "Odd." he muttered, checking the message as Hannah did the same. His eyes widened slightly as he continued, and Hannah's face took on a grim appearance. "Damn. Why is it that every time things seem to be going smoothly, something like this happens?"

"Murphy's an asshole, obviously." replied Hannah, rising to her feet and making for the door of the small room with Sparatus right on her heels.

"I'm going to assume that's another Human adage of some kind." said Sparatus, falling in step beside her. "There should be a book on those."

"There probably is. For context, Murphy's Law states that 'anything that _can_ go wrong, _will_ go wrong.' "

"Huh. That's remarkably true, actually. Still, a raid of this size on a Human colony, not six months after Saren? What are the chances?"

Hannah stopped at a small terminal, and a short series of button presses summoned an air car specifically reserved for Citadel Councilors. Sparatus had given her his authorization codes for the sake of simplicity. Waiting for the cab to arrive, she turned to face him, and her voice was deadpan. "Chance has nothing to do with Murphy's Law. In fact, Murphy pretty much tells probability to go fuck itself most of the time."

Sparatus snorted slightly. "This Murphy fellow seems like a cynical guy."

"Cynicism is just realism without the rose-tinted glasses."

Sparatus rolled his eyes, having picked up the very Human expression in his time spent with Hannah over the past six months. "Are you deliberately trying to use as many Human phrases as possible, just to confuse me? It's not like I run around spouting Turian adages and idioms all the time."

Hannah chuckled slightly. "Sorry. Force of habit."

"There you go again!" he protested, gesticulating exaggeratedly, causing her to giggle further. "At least this one I understood."

The cab arrived, and the pair quickly climbed in, before setting their destination as the Citadel Tower. The decently-sized apartment Sparatus kept on the Presidium was well above the standards of those in the wards, but was nearly on the opposite side of the Tower on the ring. They were quiet for a few minutes as they traveled, but eventually, Hannah spoke.

"I wonder what David wants _me_ for. He's the Councilor now; this kinda stuff is _his_ problem."

"He's still getting used to the responsibility." replied the Turian. "You have fifty times as much experience as he does. It's natural for him to ask you for help."

"Geez, now I feel old. Thanks a bunch, Sparatus."

"You're younger than I am. You're what, mid-forties?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Oh stop." said Hannah with a tiny blush, slapping him playfully on the arm. "If you must know, I'm fifty two."

"You were only twenty six when you became Councilor?!" he asked incredulously. "Most _Salarians_ are older than that when they take office, and they only live to be _forty_. Even your _son_ was older when he made Spectre."

Hannah's blush deepened. "Well how old were _you_ when you took office?"

"Thirty one… but I'd been in the military as a staff officer for fifteen years." he said defensively. "You became the captain of your own ship in half that time. _How_?"

"Hard work and ass kissing." she replied sardonically before changing the subject. "So how old are you now?"

"Fifty nine, this time next month." he admitted.

Hannah let out a low whistle. "I always was attracted to older men." she said, almost too quietly to be heard.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." she replied quickly.

* * *

"GODDAMNIT PALA!" screamed Ashley as a massive explosion shook the Alliance tank. She quickly righted the vehicle and dodged out of the way of one of the crashing shuttles that'd been firing at them, which their PRISM Cannon had just downed. "I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!"

"_How was I supposed to know they'd send aircraft after us_?!" she retorted, hurriedly patching up the injured marine lying on the floor of the vehicle. The first shots from the trio of shuttles had taken them by surprise, and the turret with the Sniper's Perch had been blown inward after only one volley. The man inside was only half out of his seat when it collapsed on him, and the Batarian mercenary was trying to stabilize his injuries with medigel.

"_Mierda, tus hijos de putas_!" growled Vega over his com unit. Apparently, his unit was having problems as well, though not as many considering Ashley could only see one shuttle chasing his Mako as opposed to two. After a moment, two became one as the marine in the PRISM Cannon landed another hit on the small strike craft, which blew into shrapnel in midair.

"Shit!" yelped Ashley, swerving to dodge an incoming rocket from the last shuttle. It landed where they would've been if she hadn't, and a moment later, the offending shuttle went down in flames. "We need to help Vega." she said, turning the steering wheel towards where he had just disappeared over a ridge. "I don't think a Mako can take one of these things."

"It can't." confirmed Pala, quickly wrapping the wounded man in fresh gauze from the first-aid kit in the vehicle. Her hands were practiced, as if she'd done this dozens of times before. She probably had. "Hell, I'm surprised he's still alive. The idiots on that shuttle must be shitty shots."

"Or Vega is just that good." retorted Ashley as they topped the rise. In the distance, she could see Vega's Mako, zigzagging and dodging wildly as rockets continued to land around it. A few moments later, the MIAFV got within range of the craft chasing the smaller vehicle, and one final beam of light swatted it from the sky. "Everyone alright in there, LT?"

"Yes ma'am." he replied, pulling his vehicle alongside hers. "This Turian pilot of Pala's, Zad? He's decent, but he isn't me. I learned to drive on the streets of downtown LA with _mi tio_, Emilio. Divers there are some _loco_ mofos."

"I hear ya." replied Ashley with a small chuckle. "I got most of my experience on the job, being shot at by Geth." She hesitated for a moment as a thought occurred to her. "How did the raiders know where to find us? We've been running around the countryside for over an hour with no problems. Shouldn't they be hitting the settlement?"

"Maybe they got stopped by the rest of the Alliance soldiers in the city." suggested Pala. "They could be moving further out and looking for softer targets."

"Maybe… but how did they find _us_? Those shuttles knew where and how to hit us so we wouldn't see them coming. If they'd just been blundering around out here, they couldn't have done that."

Pala considered for a moment, and then her face filled with anger as realization dawned on her. "The only people who know we're out here are your superiors and my men." she reasoned. "Unless the defenses in the city have completely collapsed, which I doubt, someone must be feeding the other mercs intel… and I think I know who."

"_Tovok_?" asked Zad loudly over his com unit. "He wouldn't."

"He would, and you know it." she countered. "He'd sell his own _mother_ for enough credits. I thought we'd get paid well for betraying Haliat to the Alliance, and he probably thought _he'd_ get paid _better_ for betraying us to Haliat."

Ashley gasped slightly. "But that means the civvies in that mine are… _fuck_!" She jerked the steering MIAFV around roughly and began making a beeline for the cave. "There are over two hundred people in that mine. If the raiders land a ship, they'll be sitting ducks."

"Like fruit ripe for the picking." agreed Vega, turning his vehicle around as well. "We need to stop him."

"More than that, we need to _kill_ him." growled Pala angrily. "I've worked with that bastard for a _decade_, and if he thinks I'll just lie down and let him fuck me like a good little whore, he's got another thing coming."

"We don't know if he's responsible yet." said Ashley, trying to calm down the irate Batarian. "There could be another explanation."

"We'll know in a minute, won't we?" asked Pala crossly. Indeed, roughly a minute later, the pair of vehicles topped a final rise on approach to the mine, and saw a large transport at the entrance to the complex. The loading ramp was down, and mercs were milling round the entrance, setting up a defensive perimeter. "See?"

"Damnit." cursed Ashley, stopping the vehicle and backing it behind the hill to conceal it from view. "There's gotta be a hundred mercs down there. Pala, you, I, Zad, and Vega are gonna have to do some of this on foot. Get another of your men in here to man the MIAFV's other turret. Even with the wounded, we have enough people to use all three turrets and drive both vehicles. We'll use them to distract the raiders while we sneak around the side and hit them from the top of the hill the mine's built into. Sanders," she said, facing the soldier in the PRISM Cannon, "I need you to take out the engines on that ship the moment this all starts. We _will not_ allow them to make off with prisoners, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." he replied with a salute.

"Good. Give us a few minutes to get into position, and then come in with guns blazing."

Ashley and Pala made their way out of the tank, and met Vega and Zad midway between the two vehicles. Zad was much older than Ashley had thought, more than old enough to be her father, and almost her grandfather. "You must be Zad." she said, extending a hand. "Major Ashley Williams of the Alliance."

Zad shook her hand gently. "Williams? You wouldn't by any chance be related to General Marcus Williams, of Shanxi?"

"Yes, actually." she replied with a grin. "He was my grandfather." A look Ashley couldn't identify passed across his eyes, and was gone so quickly she could almost have imagined it.

'_Almost.'_

"Is there something you wanted to say?" she asked gingerly.

"I… I was at Shanxi." he admitted softly. "Terrible business, that. I hope you won't hold it against me."

"Nah." she replied with a soft smile. "I used to be quite a bit more… well, _racist_, for lack of a better word, but my old CO got me over it." She motioned for the small group to follow as they hurried around the hill and towards the mine. "My last boyfriend was Turian, actually."

Zad let out a bellowing laugh, which surprised her slightly. "A _Turian_ boyfriend? No offense, miss Williams, but your grandfather must be rolling in his grave."

"Keep it down." she chided, cutting of his laughter. He had a chagrinned look on his face as she continued. "Granddad never liked Turians much, I'll admit, but it was mostly due to… well, you know."

"Yes." he said, more quietly than before. "Still, it's surprising. If you don't mind me asking… how did the two of you meet?"

"We were part of the same squad." she answered, thinking back to her days chasing Saren. "At first, there was quite a bit of tension between the two of us, but eventually, we found some common ground. He was a pretty nice guy, once you got to know him. When my old CO died, we went our separate ways. We just sort of… grew apart, I guess."

"I understand." replied Zad with a nod. "Losing a commanding officer can be hard, especially if you respect him a great deal." The four of them had nearly topped the hill by that point, and they flopped to the ground before crawling the rest of the way on their bellies.

"Alright, start your attack run Sanders." ordered Ashley over her com unit, pulling out her assault rifle. He gave a quick acknowledgement, and a moment later, the pair of vehicles came roaring over the hill, guns blazing. The raiders below were caught mostly off guard, and more than a dozen fell in the initial salvo. They quickly flew into cover behind pieces of mining equipment and their ship, before a lone Mako rolled out of the rear of the vessel.

Ashley and her team quickly got in on the action. Due to the volume of fire being put out by the two friendly tanks, most of the raiders didn't realize they'd been flanked, even as they began to fall. It was only after a single well-aimed rocket from the enemy Mako slammed into the friendly one, dropping its' shields and causing it to break off, that they turned around and realized their predicament. They tried to scramble for cover from the quartet on the hill, but that left them exposed to the remaining friendly vehicle, and they were quickly cut down. In a little less than ten minutes of constant fire and maneuver, more than three quarters of the raiders were dead or dying, their Mako and ship were flaming wrecks, and the survivors were scrambling for the safety of the mine.

"Alright, let's-" began the merc driving the Mako, which was approaching the entrance to the mine. When it got close, a pair of rockets flew from the tunnel and slammed into the tank, punching through their way through the vehicle's still-weakened shields and sending pieces of it skyward in a ball of fire.

"_Fuck_!" cursed Pala, scrambling down the rise towards the APC. Ashley caught her before she could get far, and held her back despite her struggles. "Let me go, damnit! They could still be alive!" Even as she finished speaking, a final rocket streaked out of the mine and slammed into the wreckage of the tank, nearly obliterating what was left.

"I'm sorry, Pala." said Ashley somberly. "They're gone."

Pala stopped struggling, and seemed to collapse in on herself. "I worked with those two for nearly a decade." she mumbled. "They were almost like family."

"Two of those were Mako rockets." growled Zad angrily. "That motherfucker Tovok did this."

Pala regained her composure and a look of grim determination came to her face. "He's going to _die_. Him, and his treasonous _pals_."

"You did betray them first." pointed out Vega. Pala rounded on him and stuck an armored finger right under his nose, which caused him to recoil slightly.

"_**NO**_!" she yelled, rage marring her features. "I betrayed _Haliat_. I owe no allegiance to that crazy Turian bastard. But Tovok…" She let out a low, animalistic growl from deep in her throat. "_Him_, I used to call friend. He might've been abrasive at times, but I trusted him with my _life_. That he'd betray the past ten years of friendship for _credits_ makes me want to rip off his fucking head and shit down his _neck_!"

Zad clapped her on the shoulder, and she spun around suddenly. "You'll get your chance, Pala." he said gravely. "We'll _all_ get a chance. Major, can you have your men in the MIAFV hit that Mako with a PRISM beam?"

Ashley shook her head. "If we do that, we could collapse the whole mine. There are two hundred innocent people in there, and I won't sacrifice them for revenge. We need to find a way around that vehicle."

"Is there another entrance to the mine?" asked the Turian.

"No." replied Vega instantly. "I pulled up a map of the mine earlier, and that tunnel is the only way in or out. As long as those _gilipollas_ are parked there, we can't get in."

"There has to be _something_." murmured Ashley softly. After a moment, she tried to snap her fingers excitedly, which didn't work very well in gauntlets. "Wait. There have to be ventilation shafts somewhere, right? What if we climbed down one and hit the raiders from behind?"

"That could work, actually." said Pala, tapping her chin. "But there probably aren't very many hand- or footholds along the walls. Mining lasers leave smooth surfaces."

"I'm a biotic." offered Zad. "I could lower us down one-by-one, if I had to."

"That'll have to do." said Ashley, slamming a fist into her open hand. "Split up and search for a shaft. If you find one, call out." She activated her com unit as they dispersed. "Sanders, keep an eye out for any enemy reinforcements, and make sure that no one leaves that cave unless it's us or the civvies.

"Ten four." he replied.

It took nearly a full five minutes of searching around the surrounding area, but eventually, Pala called out. "Over here!" she yelled, waving them down. "I think this is it!" The other three members of the quad rushed over to her, and found her on her knees, pulling futilely at a metal grate that was fixed in a slab of concrete.

"Stand aside." ordered Zad firmly, brushing her out of his way. She shot him a cross look for his attitude, but moved. After a moment, the Turian began to glow bright blue, and a biotic pulse reached out from his body before wrapping around the grate. The metal twisted and groaned, then was crushed like a can. When there was enough room for even Vega's hulking form to fit through, the Lieutenant peered over the edge, illuminating the forty meter shaft with his omnitool's flashlight. The walls were completely smooth.

"_Mierda_." he muttered. "That's a long way down. Wish we had some rope."

"Like we knew we would need it." replied Ashley with a grin. "You sure you can handle this, Zad?"

"Yeah." he replied with a nod. "But I think lifting Big McLargeHuge over there might be tricky." he said sarcastically, gesturing to Vega.

"Hey, you just _wish_ you had guns like these." retorted the marine, mockingly kissing his bulging arms as he flexed his muscles.

"We'll see how much those _guns_ of yours help you when Zad drops your 'roided up ass." said Ashley playfully.

Vega grumbled slightly. "Steroids my Mexican ass. These are all natural, _chica_."

Ashley just smirked. "Let's do this. Vega, you go first, and then me, then Pala, then Zad last. Zad, if you don't think you can make it, don't try. I'd rather be down a man than risk your biotics giving out midway and having you fall to your death."

"I'll be fine, Major." he said with a small grin. "Let's go."

The trip down the tunnel for Vega was relatively quick, if somewhat harrowing. If the raiders knew they were coming, he'd get shot to pieces before he could react. When he radioed the all clear, Ashley felt herself let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "My turn." Zad nodded, then lifted her gently and began lowering her as well. A little over thirty seconds later, she touched down on the floor of the darkened tunnel, and glanced back up the way she came. "How you holding up, Zad?"

His breathing was slightly labored through the com channel. "Fine, Major. Give me a second to catch my breath."

After another minute of waiting, during which time Ashley took cover behind a nearby support column, Pala descended silently into the tunnel as well, and the biotic glow winked out around her body just as she touched down. "Alright. You're up, Zad." she said.

When his voice came through over the coms, he was panting heavily, and it was obvious he was tired. "Be… be right down."

"Seriously Zad." said the Batarian worriedly. "If you can't manage it, _don't try_. The last thing we need is for you to get hurt doing this."

"I'll be fine, Pala. Trust me."

Pala wasn't convinced, and continued to stand directly beneath the shaft, looking upwards. After a moment, Ashley joined her. Zad's blue glowing form was visible in the distance, slowly descending towards them. He closed most of the gap without incident, but at ten meters from the bottom, his biotics began to flicker, and when he was less than five meters away, they cut out entirely. He fell down the rest of the way quickly, and the two women had just enough time to raise their hands in a futile attempt to catch him before he landed on top of both of them. They collapsed to the ground in a heap, and the impact drove the wind from their lungs.

"You OK over there, Major?" asked Vega worriedly.

"Yeah." she wheezed, pushing the armored Turian off her chest. "Just got the wind knocked out of me." She rapped Zad hard on the head with her knuckles, and he yelped slightly. "Idiot. I _told_ you not to try that if you were too tired."

"At least the two of you were soft enough to break my fall." he quipped in a pained voice. He tried to rise, but stopped midway and clutched his chest. "In all seriousness, I think I may've cracked some ribs."

"Damnit." growled Pala, rolling him onto his back. She injected a dose of medigel into a port on his arm, and he let out a relieved sigh a moment later as the pain killers in the gel took effect. "Can you still fight?"

"Yeah." he replied, sitting up. He grimaced as Ashley extended a hand and helped him to his feet. "Just don't make me laugh too hard."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Everyone, switch off your suit speakers and go to radio coms only. We need to keep the element of surprise as long as possible. If I remember correctly, Turians and Batarians have better night vision than Humans. Zad, Pala, you take point." The other three nodded, and did as they were told. She waved for them to proceed out of the side passage they were in and enter into the mine proper.

After a few minutes walking in the eerie silence, Zad's voice crackled in over their com units. "I make out two guards, one Turian, one Asari. They're facing the other direction, and they look like they're guarding the civilian prisoners."

"Can you sneak up on them?" asked Ashley quietly.

"I think so. Pala, let's move." The Turian and Batarian mercenaries snuck up on their unfriendly counterparts, silently drawing their combat knives. Pala counted down from three with her fingers, and when the last digit fell, she and Zad each grabbed a raider around the mouth and plunged their blades into their victims' throats. They died silently, and had their bodies dragged out of sight into side passages.

"So far, so go-" began Pala, before catching herself. She peaked around the corner of the passageway the raiders had been guarding to check on their prisoners. "Right, don't say things like-"

She was cut off by an earsplitting scream from one of the frightened civvies, which was likely loud enough to wake the dead. Before Ashley could stop herself, she face-palmed in frustration. "You just _had_ to say it. Take cover, everyone!"

The four slipped behind walls and pillars, and a few moments later, a squad of a dozen raiders burst around the corner of the main passage ahead, searching for the source of the disturbance. Almost as one, the Alliance fire team poked out from their positions and laid down a nearly solid wall of bullets into the exposed thoroughfare, with Vega throwing an incendiary grenade for good measure. Five of the mercs went down in the initial salvo, and three more got caught by the blast from the grenade. The other four made it to cover in various side passages, and the two groups began exchanging fire.

After what felt like an eternity, two more of the raiders went down with bullet-riddled bodies, and the last two were swarmed by nearly three dozen of the now angry colonists, who they'd forgotten were there. They quickly had their weapons stripped, and were being rapidly beaten to death by the mob of enraged civilians. Ashley briefly considered letting the civvies have their way, but decided against it.

"Stop!" she ordered, pushing her way through the crowd. "I want them alive!" There were angry mutters, but the crowd halted their attacks and let her pass. The two mercenaries, a Turian and a Salarian, were bruised and bloody, but alive. The Turian looked up from where he was huddled into a protective ball, and glanced at his savior. A look of recognition came to his eyes.

"Pala?" he asked incredulously. "Thank the spirits."

"Hello Draven." replied the Batarian with a sadistic grin. She hauled the injured Turian to his feet and slammed him into a nearby wall, before drawing her knife. "I was hoping to get my hands on you. Did you know Oliver and Tara are dead?" she asked maliciously, driving the point of the knife just into the skin below his chin. "Tovok ambushed them with his Mako and blew them to hell."

"Please Pala, I swear I didn't know!" he pleaded, trying to back away from the knife, even as Pala kept it in place. A small trickle of cobalt blood ran down the blade as he tried to speak without moving his jaw. "Tovok called Haliat without telling us, and when the other mercs landed, we either had to play along or die!"

"Then you should've _died_!" she snapped, driving the blade slightly further into his neck. She brought her face close enough to the terrified mercenary's that their noses were less than a centimeter apart. "Do you know what they to traitors in the Hegemony?" she asked softly. Her voice carried a dangerous, deadly edge as she continued. "The luckiest ones get sold on the block as pets to the wealthy. The less lucky ones get worked to death in the mines, or pressed into the slave armies. The _unlucky_ ones get strung up by their ankles and skinned alive." She waved her knife slowly in front of his eyes, and it seemed to glint maliciously. "Care to guess which you are?"

"Enough, Pala." said Zad, pulling gently but insistently on her shoulders. "I believe him, and his death serves no one. Remember, you once called _him_ friend as well. You may again, some day."

Pala hesitated a moment, before pulling back and allowing Draven to slump to the floor in a trembling heap. "You right. I'm sorry Draven. I overreacted. I know you can't forgive me… but I hope you can understand."

"I do." he replied numbly. "Coerced or not, we betrayed you. And I'm sorry about Oliver and Tara. They were my friends, too."

Pala nodded. "Get Taneth patched up." she ordered, pointing to the unconscious Salarian on the ground. "When he wakes up, let him know what happened."

Ashley took over from there. "Listen up, people." she intoned, addressing the huddled group of colonists. There were dozens upon dozens of them, standing and sitting around in the expansive chamber. "We're gonna take out the rest of the raiders in the mine, then wait for the Alliance to arrive. In the meantime, I want anyone with military or police training to step forward and arm themselves with the mercenaries' weapons. You shouldn't have to fight anyone, but I want you prepared, just in case. These two" she said, pointing at the Turian and Salarian on the ground, "are prisoners of the Alliance military. Keep an eye on them, but _don't_ touch them. We need them alive and unharmed for questioning. Well, as unharmed as possible." she amended.

There were a few gripes and grumbles, but the civilians did as they were told, and within a few minutes, two dozen had armed themselves with pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles from the dead raiders. Ashley motioned for her team to leave, but stopped when Draven called out to her.

"Wait. I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but… there's something wrong with Tovok and Karn. They were acting… weird."

"Weird how?" asked Ashley.

"I can't really describe it." he replied after a moment. "Tovok, I could see doing this, but Karn… it just isn't like him. It's like they aren't themselves."

Ashley thought about it for a moment, and then got a cold, sinking feeling in her gut.

'_Indoctrination...'_

"What is it, miss Williams?" asked Zad after a moment.

"I think… I think they may be indoctrinated." she answered slowly. "I have a function on my omnitool to check, but we'd need to be close."

"How close, exactly?" asked the Turian.

"Less than a meter. But if they're indoctrinated, there isn't much we can do for them. I only knew of two people that could break indoctrination… and they're both dead." she finished sadly.

"We'll know soon enough." said Pala, working her way towards the front of the mine. "Hopefully, we were far enough in that Tovok didn't hear all that shooting."

Ashley growled in frustration. "You are just _bound and determined_ to jinx the fuck out of us, aren't you?"

Pala stopped short, and then groaned softly. "Sorry." she muttered, shaking her head.

"Let's move." said Zad, interrupting the two women and taking point with Pala. The four quickly made their way through the rest of the mine without incident, but when they rounded the final corner into the entryway, a rocket streaked past the group and slammed into the wall several meters behind them, sending dust and rock fragments everywhere. Immediately after, dozens of rounds started peppering the area around the Alliance squad as the remaining six raiders opened fire.

"Sanders, draw that thing's fire, but _don't_ shoot anything big at it!" yelled Ashley over her com unit as she scrambled behind a support pillar. "We can't risk a cave-in!" A moment later, a high-powered round, presumably from the MIAFV's Perch, slammed into the Mako's kinetic barriers, causing it to spin its' turret around to deal with the more pressing threat. It gave the four friendly soldiers enough time to regain the initiative and make an offensive push, downing three of the six mercs in a few moments. Suddenly, there was a cry of pain, and Zad went down in a heap with blood leaking from his leg.

"Zad's hit!" yelled Pala, running out from behind her cover to reach the fallen Turian. She lost her shields, but took no wounds as she dragged the other mercenary into a side passage. "He'll live, but he's done fighting for now." she said after looking him over for a moment.

Just then, the turret on the enemy Mako swung back around and aimed at the entrance to the tunnel Pala and Zad occupied. In that instant, time seemed to slow to a crawl for Ashley, and her mind assumed the focus and sharpness of a razor. A lone rocket streaked out from the tank, but a single hyper-accurate burst from her assault rifle blew it up the moment it left the turret. The backblast from the rocket exploding traveled back up the barrel and sent a burst of flame into the interior of the vehicle, likely roasting whoever was inside alive before they knew what'd happened. The shrapnel from the explosion cut down the remaining mercenaries, and a moment later, the firefight was over.

"_Madre de dios_." mumbled Vega after a few seconds surveying the scene. "That was a hell of a shot, Ash."

She let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, I guess it was." She slowly approached the burning vehicle with Vega at her heels. "Let's see if anyo-"

She cut off as a lone, burned figure stumbled from the wreckage. It collapsed a moment later, and it didn't move. Ashley and Vega advanced cautiously, and flipped the body over with their feet, revealing the charred face of Tovok. He was alive, but only just.

"What… are you… waiting for?" he wheezed. "Finish it."

Ashley opened up her omnitool and took a scan of his head. After a moment, the indoctrination detector app flashed red. "Damn." she muttered. "That explains it."

"He's indoctrinated, isn't he?" asked Pala, walking towards them slowly.

"Yeah." replied Ashley sadly. "There's not much we can do for him, regardless of his injuries."

"I understand." said the female Batarian, stopping to stand over her former friend. She raised her pistol and pointed it at his head.

"I'm sorry it had to end like this, Tovok."


	6. Chapter 3: Fallout

Chapter 3: Fallout

"Alright, walk me through this Harris." said Hackett, digging through the stack of data pads in the table in front of him. "What were our losses in material?"

"Three frigates with moderate damage." she replied briskly, scrolling through two of the pads, one in each hand. "And a single crippled PRISM cruiser. One of the raider ships managed to slip through the defensive line and ram the thing. On the ground, the Alliance and Ranger HQ complexes are total write-offs. Colonel Davis evacuated what he could, and then waited until the raiders sent people into loot them before activating the self-destructs. Best estimate is that he got nearly a hundred that way."

"Stupid bastards." chuckled Hackett. "You think they'd learn that all of our good stuff is booby-trapped."

"Darwin catches up with most of them sooner or later." said Harris, sporting her own grin.

"Not my newest employee." countered Hackett. "From Major William's report, she and her team handled themselves admirably on Elysium, despite the fact that half of them turned on her."

"The press is already running with the story." said Harris, looking a bit chagrinned. "_Lion of Elysium saves two hundred nine civilians from capture singlehandedly._" she scoffed. "What a load of shit. They gloss over her squad and Lieutenant Vega, and don't even mention the mercs."

"You know how the press is: they love a good hero. Gives them something to tear down later when they get bored."

"What's your opinion on the matter?"

"She and her team did a damn fine job." replied Hackett. "Williams recommended Vega for N7 training, and I've fast-tracked his paperwork. Hers as well, though that's more of a formality; I don't think I could keep her _out_ of the program at this point, even if I wanted to. In six months, both of them will have their stripes."

"And the mercs?" Her disapproving frown showed what she thought of them, considering their history with the Rangers.

"It's strange: Williams requested that they be attached to her unit as 'specialists.' I get the feeling she's looking to build her own team, just like Shepard. I think she looks up to him."

"Why?" asked Harris. "He got fired from the Spectres."

"Exactly." When Harris shot him a confused look, he elaborated. "They never told you _why_ Shepard got fired, did they? Basically, he mouthed off to the Turian Councilor, bad enough to get court-martialed if he'd been speaking to an Alliance officer."

"Well that was damn stupid."

"And every grunt's dream." he retorted with a grin. "Everyone's had a CO they wish they could tell to burn in hell. Basically, when they were working together, she was living vicariously through him. She's too well trained a soldier to pull crazy stunts like he did, even though she wishes she could."

"Huh. Makes sense, I guess." said the director with a shrug. "Now, back to the damage reports." Hackett straightened, and she continued. "Personnel losses were fairly light, all things considered: seventy two dead and ninety five wounded, mostly from the ships in the response force."

"Ninety eight." corrected Hackett. "You're forgetting the mercs."

"You want to do this, or should I?" asked Harris testily. "Now… civilian casualties were the heaviest, besides the raiders. All told, there's two hundred sixty four confirmed KIA, twice as many injured, and at least two raider ships managed to slip out of the system before my forces arrived. Best guess is that one hundred ninety colonists were abducted."

"Damn. Any luck tracking them?"

"They slipped into Hegemony space." she replied with a grimace. "Ideally, I'd have sent people in after them, but the Batarians wouldn't take too kindly to us _invading_ their territory. It's a goddamn political nightmare."

"As soon as we're done here, I'll get on the horn to Anderson and see what he can do about it." said Hackett with a sigh. "Now, what about the intel Tovar gave us on the person behind the raid?"

"The man behind the curtain is a Turian by the name of Elanos Haliat. Well known in the Terminus Systems as an all-around scumbag: gun-running, drug-pushing, slaving, piracy; the list goes on. He was looking to use the raid to solidify his position as a pirate warlord."

"Then why try to destroy the entire colony?" asked Hackett confusedly.

"Something to do this Rapture and the Contact War." replied Harris with another shrug. "Beyond that, I don't think it really matters. Tovar pointed us towards a pirate base in the Terminus Systems where he's supposed to be holed up, assuming he hasn't already bolted. It's on a moon called Torfan, and from what we know about it, the place is supposed to be a fortress."

Hackett tapped his chin. "Hmm. Ordinarily, I'd just have you nuke the place from orbit and be done with it."

"But you want Haliat alive, don't you?" she inquired in a deadpan voice.

"Damn right I do." replied Hackett heatedly. "Ideally, Shepard would've brought Saren in alive as well, to face trial and punishment like his brother, but considering the circumstances, I was willing to settle for his corpse. Haliat though… I want him questioned. _Someone_ funded this operation, and it wasn't him. I want names and details, even if I have to drag them out of him with a dreadnaught."

Harris nodded. "If you put together a task force to keep people from getting on or off the moon, I'll take care of the ground assault. These motherfuckers attacked an _Alliance_ colony in _Alliance_ space, and they did it on _my_ watch." she growled. "I'd like to teach them a lesson or two about why messing with the Rangers is a bad decision."

"That can be arranged. But I want Williams and her team on the op. Her report indicated that two Batarian members of Tovar's squad were indoctrinated, and I'd like her to look into that for me while she's there. If something is indoctrinating people on a large scale, then the situation just got a whole lot more complicated."

"I understand that Williams worked with Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. She's on the CPF, and I think they'd work well together."

"_Vas Normandy_?" asked Hackett with raised eyebrows. "Since when is she 'vas' _anything_, let alone vas _Normandy_?"

"You don't get out much, do you Steven?" asked Harris with a smirk.

"You try having a social life while planning the largest war in Human history, _Talibeth_." he shot back.

Harris frowned. "You know I hate it when people call me that. Anyway, to answer your question, apparently the Quarian Admiralty board decided that helping to make peace with the Geth and reclaim Rannoch was a pretty good Pilgrimage gift. Despite it being destroyed, she claims the Normandy is the only ship she'll ever serve on, and she didn't feel right taking another name." Harris hesitated for a moment. "I think she had feelings for Shepard."

"She did," confirmed Hackett with a nod, "but that's her business. Still, I think she and Williams would work well together. How soon can she get here?"

"Half a day."

"Good. Williams and the mercs are already on their way here, so we'll get a chance to brief them directly. And I'd like to see my newest employees in person."

* * *

"What's all this about, Anderson?" asked Sparatus grumpily. Having been roused from bed in the middle of the night, he was eager to get back to sleep, or at least get something to wake himself up.

"We should wait until the others get here." replied the Human diplomatically. "If I need to repeat myself, things will only take longer. In the meantime, I can grab us come coffee… or whatever it is that you dextro acid folks drink. I don't really know, actually."

"It's not called coffee, but it's pretty much the same idea otherwise. I'll go with you so you don't get the order wrong."

"What's the matter, Sparatus?" Anderson grinned. "Don't you trust me with a simple little task?"

"Not when that task is getting my order right." he retorted, following Anderson out the door. "I like my _halfra_ a specific way, and I'm _not_ taking any chances."

"There's only one way to drink coffee." said Anderson definitively. "As black as night, and as strong as ryncol."

"You really are a savage, aren't you?" said the Turian with mock outrage. "If Hannah drank her coffee that way, I don't think the rest of us would've _survived_ the past twenty five years."

Anderson laughed, but caught himself suddenly. "How's she doing?" he asked cautiously. "I've been meaning to talk with her, but I can't ever seem to find the time."

Sparatus sighed. "Better, but she still has mood swings. I've walked in on her crying a few times when I visit her place, and she's told me she wakes up with nightmares once or twice a week. I'm not sure if there's anything more I can do for her."

The pair arrived at a small café on the Presidium, near the base of the tower, and ordered their respective drinks, as well as some for their colleagues. After they paid, and began walking back to the meeting room, Anderson picked up where they'd left off.

"Has she seen a doctor about it? I know shrinks aren't the most respected people around, but they exist for a reason." he stated, taking a sip of his almost scalding drink.

"More than one, but they've hit a wall. _Physically_, there's nothing wrong with her. Mentally and emotionally…" he trailed off, and shook his head. "I'm worried about her, David. I'm seriously considering having Nihlus Kryik shadow her in case she does something… rash."

"Rash?" asked Anderson, not comprehending. After a moment, it hit him like a ton of bricks. "You can't mean she's suicidal?" he asked disbelievingly.

The Turian shook his head. "No, but she's still acting self-destructive. Between her son and the media blitz over Yuri… she needs help Anderson, and I'm not sure how to get it for her."

"I'll… I'll make some calls, and see what I can do." he said slowly. "Just keep an eye on her for a while."

The conversation cut off as the pair entered the meeting room to find the other three Councilors waiting for them. When the two men appeared, their heads whipped around. "What's so important we were woken in the middle of the night?" asked Tevos curtly.

"First off, have some coffee." said Anderson, setting a cup in front of her as a peace offering. She sighed, but took a sip and let out a pleased sigh. Anderson set another cup in front of Valern, who nodded in thanks, and Sparatus handed a dextro drink to Raan. "To answer your question," began the Human, "there was an attack on an Alliance colony a few hours ago. An armada of over a hundred ships and two thousand mercs landed on the planet of Elysium, with the intent of destroying the colony."

His announcement was met with shock and disbelief from the other Councilors, though Valern recovered first, due to his faster processing of emotions. "That's disturbing. Ever since the Alliance went on alert, most raider bands have been steering clear of Human colonies."

"More than that, normal slavers and raiders stay clear of colonies under Ranger protection." added Raan, sipping her drink. "After all, they have a well-deserved reputation for halting that kind of activity."

"I'm not familiar with Elysium." stated Tevos after a moment. "Is it in the Attican Traverse, or the Terminus Systems?"

"Neither." replied Anderson, shaking his head. "It's in the Alliance proper."

Sparatus' mandibles flared. "The Alliance itself? There hasn't been an attack of that size in Alliance space since the Contact War."

"It seems our reputation for reciprocity has been forgotten since then." said Anderson, leaning back in his chair. "You have to admit, beating the Hierarchy strengthened our reputation for toughness just after the war ended."

"Yes, but it weakened ours." Sparatus shot back. "The number of raids on Turian colonies doubled after that, and with our numbers depleted, we took some heavy losses."

"Are we seriously bringing _this_ up again?" asked Anderson exasperatedly. "Look, we had no way of anticipating something like that. Is this really the time to be opening up old wounds?"

"Maybe not, but I've got a hunch." said the Turian with a shrug. "I can already tell you want something, and that means we get something out of it. Get on with it so we can get back to bed."

Anderson sighed. "Fine. One of the mercenary captains in the raid, a Batarian, decided to turn on her employer and contact the Alliance. Her information gave us enough time to prepare for the attack, and send a response force. Better than ninety five percent of the mercs died or were captured in the counterattack, and our losses were relatively light."

"I sense a 'but' coming in here." interjected Tevos.

Anderson rolled his eyes. "But… about two hundred colonists were abducted, and the mastermind behind the attack, a Turian named Elanos Haliat, wasn't there. From the information we have, he's holed up on a base in the Terminus Systems, on the moon of Torfan. The Rangers managed to track the captives until they slipped into Hegemony space."

"Goddess damnit." muttered Tevos irritably. "Let me guess: you want to go after them?"

"Yes." replied the Human with a nod. "The base on Torfan, I assume you don't have a problem with us hitting, correct?"

"Ordinarily, no… but you do realize this could provoke the Terminus Systems into uniting, don't you?" asked Sparatus cautiously.

"And?" asked Anderson with mild contempt. "They couldn't take us on our _worst_ day and their _best_."

"What if they come after us?" asked Valern. "We don't have the resources of the Alliance and Rangers to protect our outlying colonies."

"But we do." countered Anderson. "If they decide to come after the Council, we'll take the heat. Hackett and I agree that fixing this problem before it becomes more serious is the best course of action, and that defending what we _do_ have is just as important. To that end, he's authorized me to offer the Third, Fourth, Eighth, and Ninth Fleets to defend Council space from potential counterattacks."

Tevos' eyes shot up. "That's a third of your entire _navy_. Don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

Anderson shook his head impassively. "Valern said it himself: you don't have the resources we do. Human space is barely a tenth the size of Asari, and our navy is ten percent larger. If you agree, this won't cost you a dime or a drop of blood, not unless things go completely sideways."

"Well, we're dealing with the Alliance here. What're the chances of _that_?" asked Sparatus humorously.

Anderson didn't laugh. "Better than you'd think. There's a problem I haven't mentioned yet."

"What is it now?" asked Raan with a small groan.

"We found evidence of indoctrination in some of the mercs that attacked the colony." said Anderson hesitantly. "And we're talking full-blown indoctrination, too. It may've been coincidence, but nearly all of the victims are Batarian."

"Are you sure?" snapped Valern worriedly. "And how many did you find?"

"We captured one hundred twenty seven mercenaries." replied Anderson, reciting from memory. "Of those, seventy two were Batarian, just over half. Of the non-Batarians, three were indoctrinated, but of the Batarians… sixty eight tested positive."

"Ninety five percent?" asked Sparatus in disbelief. "That's… not good."

"Not exactly the words I'd use, but yes." agreed Anderson with a small smile. "Now, it's possible that most of the Batarians in the raid were chosen _because_ of their indoctrination, if Haliat is indoctrinated as well."

Tevos interrupted. "But it's just as plausible that ninety five percent of _all_ Batarians are indoctrinated."

"Or a somewhere in between." added Valern gravely.

"Unfortunately, there's no way to know at the moment." continued Anderson. "However, once we hit Torfan and capture Haliat, and believe me, we will, we'll know more. If it turns out Haliat was being bankrolled by the Hegemony, and so many Batarians are indoctrinated…" He trailed off, and Sparatus finished the thought.

"Then the Reapers could be using them as a front to attack the Council indirectly."

Anderson nodded. "If that's the case, they need to be dealt with, and the sooner the better. At the moment, all of this is speculation, but if we get proof, we'd like to act on it."

"How so?" asked Tevos cautiously.

"If the Hegemony is behind the attacks, it gives us _casus belli_."

" 'Cause for war.' " interjected Sparatus before the others could ask. He glanced between the other three Councilors. "You should seriously consider getting the Latin matrix for your translators."

"Wait… you want to attack the entire _Hegemony_?" asked Tevos. "Don't you think that's a bit… excessive?"

"I'm not talking an attack." replied Anderson bluntly. "I'm talking an invasion: the complete destruction of the Batarian Hegemony, from its' foundations up. And I want the Council to sanction it."

"That's crazy!" interjected Raan suddenly, sounding scandalized. "David, I may go along with the Alliance in most things, but this is going too far. You can't destroy an entire _race_ because some of them are indoctrinated."

"You misunderstand." he replied, holding his hands up defensively. "We're not interested in destroying the Batarians as a _race_, just their government. If it turns out their leadership is indoctrinated, the Batarians may need to be saved from _themselves_. While we're at it, we can check their population for indoctrination. At the moment, we don't have a treatment for the condition, but if one's possible-"

"Besides a psychic soldier like Shepard, you mean?" interrupted Sparatus.

Anderson rolled his eyes. "If _another_ treatment is possible, we need to look for it. And to do that-"

"You need subjects." stated Valern, interrupting him as well.

"Would you stop interrupting me?" asked Anderson testily. "I understand you're tired, but I didn't have a say in the timing of the attack." When the other Councilors had the grace to look abashed, he continued. "The Alliance is prepared to give concessions for the Council agreeing to sanction the invasion, if it comes to that."

That got their attention. "What sort of concessions are we talking about here?" asked Valern curiously.

"Hackett, the PM, and I have agreed to an alteration in the treaty of Shanxi. Six Spectres will be permitted to join the Ranger Geists, and use their authority within Alliance space. They'll be held to the same standards and rules as _our_ Geists, but report to the Council directly." Anderson chuckled slightly. "Tal Harris was royally_ pissed_ about that, let me tell you."

"I'll admit, that's a tempting offer, but it's still a bit light." said Sparatus neutrally. "You've got something else to offer, don't you?"

Anderson shot him an annoyed look. "Hannah's been giving you lessons on me, hasn't she?" he grumbled. "Fine. There _is_ one other thing: we know you've been having problems adapting the tech we gave you after the Battle of the Citadel, so we're prepared to loan you some people to work through the issues with you. Fifty each, specialists in whatever fields you'd like."

"Done." said Valern instantly. Hints of contained excitement bubbled beneath his façade of stoicism. "I'll prepare you a list."

"I can agree to that as well." said Sparatus. "Tevos?"

"Very well." she said finally. "But I want _proof_ that it's necessary before you attack. An invasion of this scale hasn't happened since the Krogan Rebellions, and the Council hasn't ever been on this end of it."

"If it exists, we'll find it." said Anderson definitively. "One thing, though: testing for indoctrination in the field is an iffy thing. We'll do our damndest to retrieve 'subjects' alive during the raid, but we won't have our people endanger themselves needlessly. If it comes down to it, they have orders to kill."

* * *

"You seem nervous."

"I am… a little, at least." admitted Pala. "I've been on the wrong side of the Rangers and the Alliance more than once, and this is just odd. I mean, how many Batarians meet with the director of the Rangers and the Supreme Commander of the Alliance Armed Forces?"

"Not many, I suppose." replied Ashley, guiding the rest of the group through the halls of Arcturus Station. "In fact, you're probably the only Batarian on the station at the moment. We don't get too many looking for jobs with the Alliance."

"You'll do just fine, _loba_." said Vega reassuringly. "The worst Hackett can do to _you_ is throw you out on your ass. Not like me and _chica_. Plus, you saved a lot of lives on Elysium. The Alliance owes you way more than money."

"Those Spanish words of yours are throwing me off." said the Batarian exasperatedly. "What do they mean, and why do you use them?"

"Vega does that." said Ashley with a grin. "It's part of his cultural heritage from growing up on Earth. Everyone gets a Spanish nickname. For me, it's _chica_, which means girl."

"_Girl_?" asked Pala with narrowed eyes. "You call your CO _girl_?"

"Only in private." said Vega defensively. "After all, friendship is one thing, but we need to stay professional where the brass can see or hear us."

"You're lucky." added Ashley, half turning to face Pala. "Unless I'm mistaken, _loba_ translates as she-wolf. It's a lot cooler than _my_ nickname."

"Wolf?"

"It's a predatory species from Earth." explained Vega. "Kinda like a varren, but not as large, and they're fiercely loyal if they like you. They're strong, crafty, and dangerous if not treated with respect."

"Huh. Thanks, I guess." she said with a shrug. "You got one for Zad?"

"_Zorro_." he replied immediately. "It means fox, which is another species from Earth. It's smaller than a wolf, but much sneakier and more intelligent… no offense, _hermana_. Wolves tend to hunt and travel in packs, whereas foxes are more lone guns. I can tell from the way he acts that Zad doesn't spend much time around people."

"Yeah." sighed Pala. "I'm not sure why. Even when we went on missions, even after working with him for years, he never really opened up to anyone. Maybe it's the age difference: being a merc is something for young people, unless you're a Krogan or Asari. He's gotta be pushing sixty, if not more."

"It's too bad that leg wound has him laid up." said Ashley. "I think he'd like Hackett. They're close to the same age, and they have similar personalities."

"How old _is_ the Commander?"

"In his seventies, though you wouldn't know it by looking at him." she replied. "His genetic enhancements make him look like he's fifty, at most."

"Not his voice, though." said Vega with a laugh. "_That_ makes him sound like he's four or five _thousand_."

Ashley laughed as well. "Or a six pack a day smoker. Don't let him hear you say that, though."

"So why's he wanna see _us_?" asked Pala curiously.

Ashley lost her good humor instantly, and her face turned grim. "Indoctrination. If there's more than a few scattered individuals indoctrinated out there, we could have a serious problem on our hands. The Alliance tracked that guy, Elanos Haliat, to a base on Torfan. The Commander and the director will have more details, but I think he wants us to go in and investigate the problem when the Rangers hit the base and capture Haliat."

"I've been on Torfan before." said Pala grimly. "The place is a fortress. If you want Haliat alive, it'll cost a lot of blood to get through those defenses, even with your tech."

Ashley was about to respond, but the trio had just reached the door to the security checkpoint leading into the Commander's office, and needed to wait pass through screening before being admitted. They surrendered their weapons, doffed their armor, and passed through a series of pat-downs, scans, and inspections before being allowed to enter the waiting room before the office. Once inside, a familiar face was there to greet them.

"Tali?" asked Ashley incredulously with a massive grin. "It's great to see you again. How've you been?"

"Not bad." she replied, wrapping Ashley in a hug. "The Rangers have been keeping me busy. Who're your friends?"

"Oh! This is Lieutenant James Vega." she answered, nodding towards the soldier. "He was a member of my team on Elysium." She gestured to Pala. "And this is Pala Tovar. She was originally a merc on the attack force, but she defected and warned the Alliance it was coming." Ashley turned to the other two. "Vega, Pala, this is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. She was part of the team under Commander Shepard that helped bring down Saren."

"I've heard your name before." said Pala, extending her hand. "You're the first Quarian Spectre, right?"

"_Was_ the first." she corrected, shaking it. "I and the Council had a… _professional_ disagreement, so I resigned."

All four of Pala's eyes shot up, and both of Vega's did as well. "Why?" asked the Batarian inquisitively.

Ashley answered. "Long story short, the Commander recovered a cure for the Genophage that Saren had been developing. He refused to surrender it, and threatened to go rogue if the Council pushed him. They… they put out a kill order on him." she finished sadly.

"_A cure for the Genophage_?" asked Pala incredulously. "Why would he save something like that?"

"John believed the Krogan are a dying race, and they deserved a second chance after the Rebellions." explained Tali. "Urdnot Wrex was a personal friend of his, and John agreed to give him the cure if he could rebuild Krogan society."

"I take it the Council objected to that… but wasn't his mother the Human Councilor?"

"She resigned immediately after that in protest." said Tali, sounding dejected. "At the time, I and another Spectre, Nihlus Kryik, were aboard the Normandy with a Salarian STG team. When the Council sent us the order, I resigned and sided with John, and Nihlus defected and sided with the Salarians."

"That was a bad time for us." added Ashley. "We'd just lost a member of our crew, and Nihlus… I don't think the Commander was surprised when Nihlus sided with the Council, but being forced into the situation hurt him emotionally."

"Wow." said Pala, sporting a contemplative look. "I had no idea there was so much drama in the life of a Spectre. Being a merc is much simpler by comparison."

Ashley chuckled slightly. "You're working with the two of _us_ now; I'm sure there'll be plenty of drama for you soon enough."

Before anyone could say anything else, a secretary stuck his head out of the door to Hackett's office. "Major Williams, miss Zorah, the Commander will see you now."

"Let's go." said Ashley, motioning the others to follow. "And remember Pala, you've earned this."

Pala nodded and took several deep breaths to steady herself before entering the office. Inside sat two individuals, the secretary having excused himself as they entered. One, clearly Hackett, glanced up as Pala entered behind the other three, and shot her an unreadable glance. The other, Tal Harris, looked less than thrilled to see a Batarian mercenary in the same room as her.

"Have a seat." ordered Hackett, gesturing to the chairs on the opposite side of the table from him and Harris. When she did, Hackett extended his hand to her and shook her hand. "Do you prefer Pala, or Tovar?"

"Pala's fine." she replied diffidently.

"Pala then." he replied with a nod. "I'm sure you know who we are, so let's dispense with the introductions. First off, there was a second part to our agreement besides the cash, wasn't there?" he asked rhetorically. "Tal?"

Harris grunted irritably before pulling a data pad out of the stack in front of her. "I've been over your file, _Pala_." she said with a slight sneer. "You've run afoul of the Rangers more than once."

Pala refused to be intimidated. "I make no apologies for my actions. Given that most people in my line of work are like my former second-in-command, you should probably be grateful you ran into someone like me."

"This isn't a dick measuring contest." snapped Hackett before Harris could respond. "Her file gets erased, Harris. Officially _and_ otherwise."

"I understand that Hackett." she retorted, throwing him a glare. "But I don't report to you. I report to the PM, and I don't appreciate being strong-armed into this."

Pala matched Harris' sneer. "Considering you and the Rangers would look even stupider if the raid had succeeded, I'd think you'd be a little more grateful for my warning."

Hackett snapped an icy gaze over to her, and she shrank back a little. "Miss Tovar," he began in a low hiss, deliberately avoiding using her requested designation, "need I remind you that you work for _me_ now? You may not be part of the Alliance military, but I don't tolerate attitude like that from my subordinates. As long as you operate under my banner, you'll have almost as much authority as one of Harris' Geists. However…" his eyes narrowed, and his voice took on an edge. "If you don't learn to pick your battles better than this, I won't bother protecting you. Are we clear?"

"Perfectly. Sir." she added, slightly belatedly.

Hackett nodded. "Good. Now that's taken care of, we can get down to brass tacks."

"Business." clarified Ashley quickly. "Human term."

Hackett smirked slightly. "Right. Sorry about that. I'm not used to dealing with other species in situations like this… except for Quarians, anyway. Now, I want intel on Haliat and Torfan."

"Unfortunately, I can't tell much more about Haliat than you already know." said Pala with a small sigh. "Long story short, he's one of the top three people in the Terminus Systems you don't mess with, alongside Aria T'loak and Urdnot Wrex."

"Wrex doesn't operate out of the Terminus Systems." pointed out Ashley.

"Not anymore." countered Pala. "But his current, ah, _career path_, you might say, isn't what he's best known for. He's spent more time in Terminus Systems than everyone in this room _combined_ has been _alive_, and he's got the reputation to prove it."

"And Haliat ranks with him and T'loak?" asked Hackett with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yes, but for a different reason." answered Pala. "Wrex and Aria are like forces of nature: you can't fight them, just like you can't fight a hurricane or tornado. Haliat is more like a nuke: explosive, violent, incredibly dangerous, and short-lived. People like him pop up frequently in the Terminus Systems. They shake things up for a bit, then someone kills them off and another just like them takes their place."

"What about the Shadow Broker?" asked Tali after a moment.

"Him, you just don't piss off _period_." answered the Batarian. "Aria and Wrex can't do too much to someone powerful in civilized space, like Hackett or a Councilor, but the Broker has contacts _everywhere_."

"We're off-topic." interjected Hackett. "What about Torfan?"

"That I can help you with, to a certain extent." she replied quickly, unperturbed by the sudden change in topic. "It's been a few years since I was there, though. Zad might know more."

"He's your pilot, right?" asked Hackett. "Why isn't he here?"

Ashley answered. "He was going to be here, sir, but then he took an arr- bullet to the knee during the fighting on Elysium. He'll be laid up for a while."

Hackett grunted. "Well, have him send me a report on Torfan when he's able. We need all the intel we can get for the attack. Now, as I've mentioned, I want you attached to the Ranger force leading the ground assault. While you're down there, you're to recover Elanos Haliat. _Alive_."

"That's easier said than done." said Pala. "He won't come quietly."

"I wouldn't expect him to." said Hackett with a grim smile. "I said _alive_, not _intact_. The only requirements for his retrieval are a pulse and the ability to communicate in some way so we can interrogate him."

"I was hoping you'd say that." replied the Batarian with a grin of her own. "If you don't mind me saying, you remind me of Zad, Commander. I think you'd like him. You two have a lot in common besides just your age."

"Oh? How old is he?"

"Not sure." she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "Best guess: sixty or so."

Hackett's eyebrows rose. "Bit old for a merc."

Pala smirked. "He's like an old varren: he might get slower and weaker with age, but he gets meaner and tougher to make up for it."

Hackett chuckled slightly. "You're right: I think I'd like him."

"Now who's off-subject?" asked Harris suddenly, sporting a mischievous grin.

Hackett cleared his throat. "Right. Besides capturing Haliat, you have a secondary objective. We found extensive evidence of indoctrination among the mercs on the raid, particularly the Batarians."

"How extensive are we talking, sir?" asked Ashley.

"Better than ninety five percent of the Batarians were indoctrinated." he stated gravely. "In truth, Pala here is the exception more than the rule."

Pala let out a low growl. "Shit. I didn't think it'd be that bad."

"It is." said Hackett. "Put simply, we want you to recover as many live prisoners as you can, especially if they're indoctrinated."

Pala shot Hackett a fiery gaze. "What do you want with them?" she asked aggressively. "If it's for some sort of science experiment, you can forget it. You wouldn't ask a Human to do something like that to other Humans."

"I would, and I _am_." retorted Hackett. "I want everyone you can lay your hands on, not just the Batarians. If we can study them, we might be able to adapt Shepard's indoctrination detector into a treatment for the condition. It's twisted, but we need subjects to study if we're going to make that happen. I won't sugar-coat it for you, Pala: if the indoctrination is as extensive among the Batarian general population as it is among the mercs, you could be looking at the death of your entire _species_ within your lifetime."

Pala gaped slightly, and then let loose a string of curses. After a moment, she recovered. "Fine. But I understand that some levels of indoctrination are irreversible, even for a psychic like Shepard. Is that correct?" Hackett nodded, and she continued. "If someone can be saved, they deserve a chance to be. If they can't… they deserve a dignified death, not to spend the rest of their lives as lab animals."

"What are you suggesting?" asked Hackett suspiciously.

"I had to shoot a friend of mine in the head less than a day ago." she replied bluntly. "I'd known Tovok for nearly a decade, and doing that hurt. Even so, he deserved a clean death at the very _least_, and I'm glad it was me that did it rather than somebody else. If someone exhibits symptoms of irreversible indoctrination… I wouldn't want to exist like that."

"You're asking me to give you permission to _execute_ them?" asked Hackett incredulously.

"Euthanasia is relatively common among Batarians." she explained. "We don't have the cultural taboos against it that most species do. Plus, as a mercenary, your hands will stay clean if _I_ do it, rather than, say, Williams or Zorah."

Hackett sighed. "I'll give it some thought. But I'll admit, I'd rather die than live like that."

"Is that a yes?"

"We'll see. We'll see."


End file.
